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ttbe 

Pt-Centenmal Celebration 

ot tbe 

Settlement 

01 

Hitcfjftelb, Connecticut 

Huguet 1*4, 1920 



COMPILED FOR THE 
LITCHFIELD HISTOKICAL SOCIETY 

BY 

Alain- C. White 



LITCHFIELD, CONN. 

ENQUIRED 
PRINT AV 
19 2 



The Litchfield Historical Society 

President 
Hon. George M. Woodruff 

Vice-Presidents 

Mrs. John A. Vanderpoel 

Admiral George P. Colvocoresses, U. S. N. (retired) 

Mrs. John Ladjlaw Buel 

Rev. William J. Brewster 

Recording Secretary 
Cornelius R. Duffie 

Corresponding Secretary and Treasurer 
Alain C. White 

Managers 
Miss Alice Wolcott 
Mrs. John Lindley 
Miss Cornelia Buxton Smith 

Charles H. Coit 

Rev. Frank J. Goodwin, D.D. 

Milo D. Beach 

Committee on Financing the Book of the 

Litchfield Bicentennial. 

Rev. Frank J. Goodwin, D.D. 

Mrs. John A. Vanderpoel 

Admiral George P. Colvocoresses, U. S. N. (retired) 



LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS 

TO THIS BOOK 



Mrs. D. G. Ambler 

John C. Barnard 

Milo D. Beach 

Mrs. J. H. Bronson 

Mrs. John Laidlaw Buel 

Miss Dorothy Bull 

F. Kingsbury Bull 

Ludlow S. Bull 

Gordon W. Burnham 

Frederick T. Busk 

Dr. B. Austin Cheney 

Miss Ella S. Coe 

Francis M. Coe 

Mrs. Francis M. Coe 

William Colgate 

Admiral G. P. Colvocoresses 

IT. S. N. (retired.) 
Seymour Cunningham 
Mrs. Charles B. Curtis 
Harry Goodyear Day 
W. Beach Day 
Frederick Deniing 
Dr. Nelson L. Deming 
L. R. Denegar 
C. B. Duffie 
S. Edson Gage 
Mrs. W. H. K. Godfrey 
W. G. Granniss 
Curtis R. Hatheway 
Miss Frances E. Hickox 
Ernest Howe 



Edward P. Jennings 

Miss Alice E. Kingsbury 

Miss Edith D. Kingsbury 

Col. A. E. Lamb 

R. H. Liggett 

Mrs. George S. McNeill 

Mrs. Henry S. Munroe 

Mrs. W. D. Munson 

Mrs. Eugene H. Outerbridge 

Mrs. Albert A. Pennoyer 

Eugene L. Phelps 

Miss Mary P. Quincy 

George Richards 

Mrs. Harrison Sanford 

Morris W. Seymour 

Robert C. Swayze 

Miss Kate I. Thomas 

Henry R. Towne 

William Trumbull 

Frank H. Turkington 

Floyd L. Vanderpoel 

Mrs. John A. Vanderpoel 

Miss Mary D. Van Winkle 

Mrs. George A. Vondermuhll 

Miss Emily M. Wheeler 

Alain C. White 

Miss Caroline White 

Miss Eliza W. White 

Miss May W. White 

George M. Woodruff 

Mrs. Martin G. Wright 



INTRODUCTION 

By Cornelius R. Duffie, 
(Secretary, Litchfield Historical Society) 



The Two Hundredth Anniversary of the settlement of 
the Town of Litchfield was observed and celebrated on the first 
four days of August, 1920. 

As authorized by special Act of the Connecticut Legislature 
an appropriation of Five Thousand Dollars was made from 
the town treasury to defray the general expenses of the cele- 
bration and every permanent and Summer resident entered 
heartily into the spirit of the occasion. 

The public and mercantile buildings, and with scarcely 
an exception, the houses in the Borough were profusely deco- 
rated. The display of flags was remarkable, many rare ban- 
ners and emblems of national and political character being 
shown. The facade of the Beckwith house on South Street 
was nearly covered with thirteen different flags, each one 
connected with some phase of American history, including sev- 
eral of the original colonies, the famous "Battlesnake" 
emblem, early Revolutionary banners and a Civil War flag 
that was under fire at Fort Sumter, while on the Seymour 
homestead next door was a large and beautiful flag of the 
Order of the Cincinnati. 

Sunday, August 1st, was observed as Religious and Edu- 
cational Day, with special services and addresses relating to 
the ecclesiastical history of the town in all of the churches, 
the service at the Congregational Church being especially note- 
worthy, as that society was founded in the year of the settle- 
ment. The large audience assembled there was edified and 
delighted by discourses delivered by the Hon. George M. 
Woodruff and the Rev. Rockwell Harmon Potter, D.D. 

Speakers at the other churches included Admiral George 
P. Colvocoresses, U. S. N. (Retired), at St. Michael's and Miss 
Esther H. Thompson at the Methodist Church. In the after- 



x INTRODUCTION 

noon at the Playhouse the Hon. Simeon E. Baldwin, LL.D., 
Ex-Governor and Ex-Chief Justice of Connecticut, delivered 
an address on the Litchfield Law School, which was followed 
by ;iu address by -Mrs. George M. Minor, President-General 
of the National Society of the Daughters of the American 
Revolution, whose topic was the life and work of Miss Sarah 
Pierce, founder of Litchfield's pioneer school for girls. In 
the evening an address was delivered at the Congregational 
Church by the Rev. Howard Duffield, D.D., of New York, on 
"The Tolerant Spirit of the American Colonists". 

The exercises of the day closed with an admirable concert 
in the West Park by the Band of the First Company, Gover- 
nor's Foot Guard, under Conductor William M. Redfield, First 
Lieutenant on Major Barbour's Staff. The soloist was his 
daughter, Miss Catherine Redfield. 

Monday was State Day, with Governor Holcomb and Staff, 
Lieutenant-Governor Wilson, Senator Brandegee, former Gov- 
ernors Weeks and Baldwin, and other notables as, special 
guests of honor. Shortly before eleven the Governor and his 
Staff were received at the Playhouse with full military honors 
by the First and Second Companies of the Governor's Foot 
Guard, the New Haven Grays and the Putnam Phalanx. A 
military parade followed, the line of march being through 
the principal streets and past the reviewing stand where 
Governor Holcomb as Commander-in-Chief took the salute, it 
being the first time in the history of Connecticut that the four 
military organizations had ever marched together. 

Luncheon was served to the men in West Park, while 
the officers, Governor and other guests enjoyed the hospitality 
of many of the citizens who so generously opened their beauti- 
ful homes. In the afternoon there were addresses at the 
Playhouse and the Congregational Church, the speakers at the 
former being Governor Holcomb, Ex-Governor Weeks, Ex-Con- 
gressman Reilly and Major John L. Gilson, and at the latter 
Lyman Beecher Stowe, United States Senator Brandegee and 
Congressman Glynn. The principal military feature of the 
day was a regimental drill in the Center Square of the First 
and Second Companies Governor's Foot Guard and the New 
Haven Grays, with a review by Governor Holcomb and Staff. 
The afternoon's exercises closed with the planting by Governor 



INTRODUCTION xi 

Holcomb in front of the Library of an oak grown from an 
acorn from a tree next Lincoln's tomb at Springfield, 111., the 
gift of Herman Foster of Bantam. 

Tuesday was County Day, with all of the county officers 
and delegations of local officials from nearly every town in 
the county present as guests. The main feature of the day 
was a large parade participated in by fire companies and other 
organizations from many county towns led by the Litchfield 
war veterans of the Morgan- Weir and Robert P. Jeffries Posts 
of the American Legion, Litchfield and Bantam Fire Depart- 
ments, Mary Floyd Tallmadge Chapter, D. A. R., Litchfield 
Boy and Girl Scouts and Litchfield Grange, with Litchfield's 
oldest citizen, Edwin P. Dickinson, who is in his one hundredth 
year, at the post of honor at the head of the formation. The 
parade was about a mile long, and with many bands of music 
and picturesque floats in the line it was an imposing sight 
witnessed by several thousand spectators, New Milford in 
particular being so well represented that business in that 
town was generally suspended for the day. Luncheon was 
served to all visitors in the West Park, after which the Litch- 
field Baseball Team played a game against the New Milford 
Team at the Athletic Field, which Litchfield was fortunate 
enough to win after a fine contest by the close score of 4 to 3. 

Wednesday was Litchfield Day, and the feature of the 
morning was an address written by the Hon. Morris W. Sey- 
mour, LL.D., and read by his son, Origen S. Seymour, at the 
Playhouse, the address being replete with historical facts and 
lore of old Litchfield. After the address luncheon was served 
on the Green, followed at 2 o'clock by an exceedingly fine con- 
cert by the Band 'of the Second Compaq, Governor's Foot 
Guard. At the close of the concert the inhabitants and visi- 
tors, in hundreds of motor vehicles and on foot, repaired to 
the grounds of the Country Club where was given a series 
of beautiful masques depicting in pageant form various events 
in the history of the town, staged at a bend in the river not 
far from the location chosen by John Marsh for his home- 
stead at the original settlement. Beginning with the barter- 
ing with the Indians for the town site, other particularly 
impressive and noteworthy scenes depicted the building of the 
stockade, the melting of the bullets from the statue of King 



xii INTRODUCTION 

George III, the Lafayette Ball, the Bivouac before Cold Har- 
bor, and last a realistic skirmish and gas attack World War 
maneuvre by the Litchfield boys so recently returned from 
France and the training camps. The four days' celebration 
closed with a final concert by the Second Company Foot Guard 
Hand and a community dance on the asphalt pavement on the 
south side of West Park, a scene more typical perhaps of the 
Latin countries of Europe than of the New England of our 
fathers. 

The celebration was participated in and observed by 
about ten thousand people. With the weather beautifully 
clear and cool and not a single accident or untoward event to 
mar the festivities, the unanimous opinion expressed was that 
the celebration was in every detail a fitting commemoration of 
Litchfield's two hundred years and of the influence of her sons 
and daughters in State and Nation. 

Much credit was accorded to the several committees under 
the general direction of George C. Woodruff for carrying the 
generous plans to a successful conclusion, and to Sheriff Frank 
H. Turkington and his deputies, the State Police and the Cycle 
squad of the State Motor Vehicle Department, for keeping 
order. 



Table of Contents 



List of Committees of the Litchfield Bi-Centennial 
Celebration ....... 

Greetings from Lichfield, England 
Official Program, August 1, 1920 

Address by Hon. George M. Woodruff: Pastors and 

People ....... 

Address by Rev. Rockwell Harmon Potter, D.D. 

The Mission of the Meeting House 
Address by Admiral George P. Colvocoresses, U. S. N 

(retired): The First Episcopal Society . 
Address by Miss Esther H. Thompson: Methodism 

in Litchfield 

Address by Ex-Gov. Simeon E. Baldwin, LL.D.: The 

Litchfield Law School .... 

Address by Mrs. George M. Minor: Sarah Pierce 
Address by Rev. Howard Duffield, D.D.: The Toler 

ant Spirit of the American Colonists 

Official Program, August 2, 1920 .... 
Address by Gov. Marcus H. Holcomb 
Address by Ex-Gov. Frank B. Weeks 
Address by Ex-Congressman Thomas L. Reilly 
Address by Major John L. Gilson: Our Ancestors 
Address by Lyman Beecher Stowe, Esq.: The Beecher 
Family 

Address by Senator Frank B. Brandegee 
Address by Congressman James T. Glynn 

Official Program, August 3, 1920 .... 

Official Program, August 4, 1920 .... 

Address by Hon. Morris W. Seymour, LL.D.: His 
toric Litchfield ..... 



19 

23 

31 

49 
59 

77 
91 
93 
95 
97 
101 

109 
117 
121 

123 

125 

127 



Litchfield, An Historic Masque, by Miss Dorothy Bull 139 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

1. State I >ay: Head of Parade approaching the Review- 

ing Stand from North Street. Photograph by Miss 
Dorothy Allen i 

2. Litchfield Day: Golf Course of the Litchfield Coun- 

try Club showing crowd at the Pageant; Indian 
Scene in the foreground. Photograph by W. N. 
Copley ix 

3. State Day: Governor Holconib and party on the 

Reviewing Stand. Left to right: Hon. John H. 
Wadhams, Col. Robert O. Eaton, Hon. T. L. Reilly, 
Gen. George M. Cole, Major John N. Brooks, Sen. 
F. B. Brandegee, Gov. Marcus H. Holconib, Col. 
Alton Farrel, Lieut.-Gov. Wilson, Ex-Gov. Simeon 
E. Baldwin, Ex-Gov. Frank B. Weeks. Photo- 
graph by W. N. Copley 7 

4. State Day: Entertaining the Visiting Troops at 

luncheon in the West Park. Photograph by W. N. 
Copley 31 

5. State Day: The Putnam Phalanx passing the Re- 

viewing Stand. Photograph by W. N. Copley . 49 

6. County Day: The Mary Floyd Tallmadge Chapter, 

D. A. R., marching in the County Parade. Photo- 
graph by W. N. Copley ...... 59 

7. George C. Woodruff, Director of the Bi-Centennial 

Celebration, near the newly planted Lincoln Memo- 
rial Oak. Photograph by James L. Kirwin . 91 

8. State Day: Gov. Hoi comb and Staff. Sitting: Gov. 

M. H. Holconib, Gen. Geo. M. Cole; Standing, Left 
to right: Col. Alton Farrel, Col. William C. 
Cheney, Major John X. Brooks. Photograph by 
W. X. Copley 93 

9. State Day: The Band of the Second Company, Gov- 

ernor's Foot Guard. Photograph by W. N. 
Copley 101 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xv 

10. State Day: Staff of the First Company, Governor's 

Foot Guard, passing the Reviewing Stand. Photo- 
graph by James L. Kirwin .... 105 

11. State Day : Staff of the First and Second Companies, 

Governor's Foot Guard, on the Green. Photo- 
graph by W. N. Copley 109 

12. State Day: New Haven Grays, passing the Review- 

ing Stand. Photograph by W. N. Copley .* . 117 

13. County Day: The Litchfield Girl Scouts. Photo- 

graph by 31 rs. George A. Yondermuhll . . 123 

14. County Day: The Morgan-Weir Post, American 

Legion. Photograph by Mrs. G. A. Yondermuhll 135 

Plates 15-22: Litchfield, an Historic Masque — following p. 148 

15. The Indians. Photograph by F. L. Vanderpoel. . 

16. The Age of Homespun, 1760. Photograph by W. N. Copley. 

17. George III Comes to Litchfield. Photograph by W. N. 

Copley. 

18. The same: Oliver Wolcott (Sutherland Beckwith). Photo- 

graph by James L. Kirwin. 

19. Bivouac before Cold Harbor. Photograph by W. N. Copley. 

20. Home Service, 1863. Photograph by W. N. Copley. 

21. The New Leaven: Columbia (Mrs. F. L. Vanderpoel) 

Welcomes the Foreign Born. Photograph by F. L. 
Vanderpoel. 

22. Over the Top, 1918. Photograph by W. N. Copley. 



LIST OF COMMITTEES 



EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 

GEORGE M. WOODKUFF, CHAIRMAN. 

JOHN L. BUEL, WILLIAM T. MARSH, MILO D. BEACH, 

PATRICK C. BURKE. 

Religious and Educational Day William Marley 
George M. Woodruff, Chairman William M. Murphy 
ex-officio. Frank A ' 0sborn 



Rev. Frank J. Goodwin, D.D. 
Miss Cornelia B. Smith 
Rev. W. J. Brewster 
Miss Julia A. Deming 
Rev. W. B. Pruner 
Mrs. F. U. Newcomb 
Rev. John L. McGuinness 
Miss B. A. Fitzpatrick 
Rev. A. B. Crichton 
Miss Bessie Kinney 
Rev. Harry Studwell 
Mrs. George Peck 
Rev. W. D. Humiston 
Mrs. Frank Blakeslee 
F. A. Stoddard 
Paul Dillingham 

State Day. 



Willis O. Perkins 
Frederick B. Plumb 
W. S. Rogers 
Thomas F. Ryan 
Ralph P. Smith 
Richard V. Tobin 
Albert M. Turner 
Charles N. Warner 
George C. Woodruff 

County Day. 
Patrick C. Burke, Chairman 
Ozias Benedict 
Frank Blakeslee 
Filmore Brown 
F. North Clark 
Walter A. Cook 
Lester R. Denegar 
James Dovle 



William T. Marsh, Chairman. Henry T. Gill 



W. Burton Allen 
Charles W. Biglow 
Edward C. Bulkeley 
Stanley L. Coe 
William Crutch 
George Fairgrieve 
Capt. Wm. M. Foord 
Robert A. Goodwin 
Fremont Granniss 
Harry F. Lynch 



Tilden Gifford 
Louis J. Goodman, Sr. 
George Guion 
Albert J. Hausmann 
Isaac H. Hutchinson 
Major R. F. Jackson 
Rudolph Karl 
John H. Lancaster 
John J. Moraghan 
William B. Morse 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 



Alnion N. Perkins 
Robert L. Roehford 
Frank H. Turkington 
William E. Turkington 
A. Benj. Webster 
Henry T. Weeks 
Marvin S. Todd 

Litchfield Day. 

John L. Buel, Chairman. 

Miss Mabel Bishop 
Miss Alice T. Bulkeley 
Miss Bessie Morse 
Mrs. F. A. Stoddard 
W. Jerome Bissell 
Charles D. Buell 
Albert W. Clock 
Charles L. Dudley 
Cornelius R. Duffie 
Weston G. Granniss 
Samuel P. Griffin 
George W. Hard 
Chauncey B. Heath 
John T. Hubbard 
E. Bruce Mason 
Eugene L. Phelps 
Raymond H. Platts 
Hector Richards 
Floyd Vanderpoel 
William S. Walcott 
James P. Woodruff 

Historic Masque 

Alain C. White, Chairman. 
Mrs. Katherine S. Bissell 
Miss Helen Cahill 
Mrs. R. S. Chisolm 
Mrs. Charles H. Coit 
Miss Carolyn Cowles 
Mrs. Robert Currie 
Miss Elizabeth Deming 
Mrs. John Dove 
Miss Dorothy Bull 
Miss Adelaide Deming 



Miss Florence Ennis 
Mrs. C. B. Heath 
Mrs. R. A. Marcy 
Mrs. Grace W. McNeill 
Miss Ida Meramble 
Miss Julia E, Morse 
Mrs. C. I. Page, Jr. 
Miss Harriet M. Richards 
Mrs. Harold Richardson 
Miss Margaret Sanford 
Miss Amy Thurston 
Mrs. A. T. VanLaer 
Miss May S. VanWinkle 

Honorary Reception. 

Morris W. Seymour, Chairman 

Patrick C. Burke 

George C. Ives 

Augustus Smith 

Admiral G. P. Colvocoresses 

Mrs. John L. Buel 

Miss Phoebe Benton 
Mrs. W. H. K. Godfrey 

Mrs. D. C. Kilbourn 
Miss Alice Kingsbury 

Mrs. W. D. Munson 
Miss Mary P. Quincy 
Mrs. John A. Vanderpoel 
Miss Mary D. VanWinkle 
Miss Eliza W. White 
Miss Alice Wolcott 
Prof. Henry S. Munroe 
Julius K. Adenaw 
J. H. Bronson 
J. Howard Catlin 
Truman Catlin 
Francis M. Coe 
William Colgate 
Frederick Deming 
William Do^de (Bantam) 
John P. Elton 
William Gibbs 
Charles Hinsdale 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 



Col. A. E. Lamb 
Rev. H. G. Mendenhall, D.D. 
Henry B. Peck 
Edson L. Perkins 
George Richards 
W. S. Rogers 
Charles W. Talcott 
Henry R. Towne 

Active Reception. 

Milo D. Beach, Chairman. 
Dr. John L. Buel 
Rev. W. J. Brewster 
Rev. Arthur B. Crichton 
Rev. Frank J. Goodwin, D.D. 
Rev. W. D. Humiston 
Rev. John L. McGuinness 
Rev. William B. Pruner 
Rev. Harry Studwell 
Mrs. William S. Plumb 
Mrs. W. W. Rockhill 
Miss Katharine Baldwin 
Miss Janet Birmingham 
Mrs. W. Beach Day 
Miss Frances E. Hickox 
Mrs. William T. Marsh 
Mrs. C. B. Ripley 
Mrs. Marion P. Roberts 
Miss Nellie Scott 
Dr. A. E. Bostwick 
Wallace H. Camp 
Frederick T. Busk 
Seymour Cunningham 
Ellicott D. Curtis 
George Fairgrieve 
E. B. Hamlin 
Curtis R, Hatheway 
Joseph E. Hopkins 
Philip P. Hubbard 
George H. Hunt 
H. Bertram Lewis 
John Lindley 
Charles I. Page, Jr. 



Thomas F. Ryan 
Origen S. Seymour 
William Trumbull 
Charles H. Turkington 
Lewis B. Woodruff 

Invitations. 
The Executive Committee and 
Philip P. Hubbard, Acting 

Chairman 
Mrs. John L. Buel 
J. Howard Catlin 
Mrs. Charles Symington 
Bernard C. Roberg 
Miss Kate I. Thomas 
Albert J. Hausmann 

Hospitality and Refreshments 

The Executive Committee, and 

A. E. Conklin 

A. E. Fuller 

C. B. Kilbourn 

W. Beach Morse 

Bernard Olsson 

George E. Mason 

John J. Ryan 

George R. Wedge 

George J. Switzer 

Publicity and Printing 
W. S. Rogers, Chairman 
F. North Clark 
Harry A. Borgeson 
Dr. Nelson L. Deming 
C. H. Elliott 
R. J. Landon 
Fred. O. Mason 
Edward M. Sepples 
George A. Smith 
George C. Woodruff 

Finance. 
Gorge H. Hunt, Chairman 
Miss Clara B. Kenney 
Miss Esther H. Thompson 
Edgar D. Beach 



LITCHFIELD BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 



Wallace H. Cainp 
Leman Brundage 
Charles H. Coit 
I. T. Dickinson 
Henry Edwards 
Thomas J. Harris 
Frank B. Mason 
M. V. Moraghan 
Frederick U. Newcomb 

Public Decorations. 
T. A. Ganung, Chairman 
George Barber 
William F. Bergin 
Lyman J. Booth 
Edward Brennan 
Daniel H. Burns 
James E. Conroy 
Bobert Currie 
Jeffery Donohue 
Frank Foster 
William Herbert 
L. M. Marsh 
Joseph Mayer 
Hugh Mclntyre 

E. F. Miner 
George Morey 
Harry B. Morse 
William Oviatt 
William S. Plumb 
Edwin S. Potter 
W. G. Bosbach 
James T. Sedgwick 

F. M. Seeley 

Transportation. 
R, D. Sanford, Chairman 

John C. Barnard 
Charles P. Barber 
Joseph A. Cowan 
Aaron Crutch 
Charles Deno 
Nicholas Doyle 
John Drury 
H. H. Fenn 



John J. Hannon 
Herbert E. Johnson 
K. H. Liggett 
H. O. Morse 
Alfred Mattson, Jr. 

E. D. Parsons 
George Theophilos 
Martin G. Wright 

Policing and Parking. 

F. H. Turkington, Chairman 
Jacob Ackerman 

Wilbur Anderson 
M. Tullio Aragona 
George Bailey 
John F. Barrett 
Sutherland Beckwith 
Ernest Brown 
John Burns Jr. 
Dr. A. E. Childs 
George B. Crutch 
John DaBoss 
George B. Dean 
Charles Dempsey 
William Doyle (Milton) 
Patrick Driscoll 
Frank Fabbri 
Alfredo Franzosi 
William S. Fenn 
Timothy F. Higgins 
Martin C. Iffland 
Joseph Kelly 
John Koma 
Harry B. Morse 
John Badich 
C. J. Bamsey 
Martin T. Sogers 
Charles E. Shumway 
W. R. R. Smith 
Howard Spencer 
Robert W. Tucker 
William E. Turkington 
Edward J. Weir 
Jay Whitehill 
Sol Wheeler 



Greetings from Lichfield, England 

TOWN CLEEK'S OFFICE 
LICHFIELD, STOFFS, ENGLAND 

1st July, 1920. 

Dear Sir:— Kef erring to your letter of the 14th May last 
addressed to His Worship the Mayor I am directed to inform 
you that a meeting of the City Council held on the 28th ulto. 
a resolution (as per copy enclosed) congratulating your Town 
on its having attained the two hundreth anniversary of its 
settlement, was unanimously adopted, and ordered to be en- 
grossed on Vellum. 

In accordance with that resolution I have today had the 
pleasure to forward to you a registered packet containing the 
engrossment, which I trust you will receive in due course. 

At the same time I am directed to state that His Worship 
much regrets that he will be unable to accept your Committee's 
kind invitation to be present at the Celebration. 

Yours faithfully, 

W. Brocksom, Town Clerk. 
For the Bi-Centennial Celebration, George Catlin Wood- 
ruff, Esq., Committee, Litchfield, Connecticut, U. S. A. 



(City Arms) 

To the Inhabitants of the Town of Litchfield, Connecti- 
cut, United States of America. 

We, the Mayor, Aldermen and Citizens of the City and 
County of Lichfield, England, send you heartiest Greet- 
ings. 

We congratulate your town on its having attained the 
two-hundredth anniversary of its settlement, and beg to express 
the hope that its history may be as long and honourable as our 



6 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

own and beloved ancient and loyal City, after which, your 
town was named though following in its form the quaint spell- 
ing of by-gone days. 

We sincerely trust that the inhabitants may progress and 
prosper, and emulate the example of their distinguished pre- 
decessors who we learn with pride and pleasure founded at 
Litchfield the First Law School in the United States, and the 
first School for Higher Education of Women. 

We are convinced the interchange of kindly messages, such 
as these now passing between us, will cement and strengthen 
the feeling of friendship and brotherhood which exists between 
your great Country and our own beloved land, and we beg to 
assure you that your Bi-Centennial Celebration will be watched 
by us with the greatest interest and appreciation. We regret 
that His Worship The Mayor, whom you so kindly invited 
to be present, is unable to accede to your desire. 

Given under the Common Seal of the Mayor, Aldermen 
and Citizens of the City and County of Lichfield, this twenty- 
eighth day of June, One thousand nine hundred and twenty. 

Henry G. Hall, Mayor. 
W. Brocksom, Town Clerk. L. S. 



OFFICIAL PROGRAM 

SUNDAY, AUGUST FIKST. 

Religious and Educational Day 

St. Anthony's R. C. Church — Masses at 9 and 11 a. m., and 
at latter service a sermon by the Rector, Rev. J. L. McGuinness. 

Congregational Church, 10:45 a. m. — Two Hundredth 
Anniversary Service. 

Address, "Pastors and People", Hon. George M. Woodruff. 

Address, "The Mission of the Meeting House", Rev. Rock : 
well Harmon Potter, D.D., Center Church, Hartford. 

St. Michael's Church, 10:45 a. m. — Address by Admiral 
George P. Colvocoresses, U. S. N. (retired). 
Sermon by Rev. W. J. Brewster, Rector. 

Methodist Church, 10:45 a. m. — Letters of greeting from 
former pastors. Historical address by Miss Esther Thomp- 
son. Address, "The Recent Advance", by Rev. Ridgway F. 
Shinn, Waterbury. 

Playhouse, West Street, 3 :30 p. m. — Hon. George M. Wood- 
ruff, Presiding, Invocation, Rev. William B. Pruner. 

Address, "The First Law School in America", Hon. Simeon 
E. Baldwin, formerly Governor of Connecticut and Chief Jus- 
tice of the Supreme Court of Errors. 

Address, "Sarah Pierce, Pioneer of Woman's Higher Edu- 
cation", Mrs. George Maynard Minor, President General 
National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. 

Benediction, Rev. William J. Brewster. 

Union Service, Congregational Church, 8:00 p. m. — 
Address, "The Tolerant Spirit of the American Colonists", 

Rev. Howard Duffield, D.D., First Presbyterian Church, New 

York. 

West Park, Concert, 9:30 p. m— Band of the First Com- 
pany, Governor's Foot Guard. 



"The record of what appears to have been the first Town 
Meeting is without date. Dea. John Buel and Nathaniel 
Smith were appointed a Committee to hire a minister and 'to 
make and gather a rate to pay him for his services amongst 
us'. This Committee employed Mr. Timothy Collins, of Guil- 
ford, a young licentiate who had graduated at Yale College in 
1718. At the next meeting, held Nov. 6, 1721, it was voted, 
'that Mr. Collins be forthwith called to a settlement in this 
place in the work of the ministry' " — Kilbournc's History of 
Litchfield. 

The General Assembly of the English ''Colony of Con- 
necticut in New England", at its May session in 1722, granted 
"Liberty unto the inhabitants of the town of Litchfield to 
imbody into church estate with the approbation of the neigh- 
bouring churches, and to settle an orthodox minister amongst 
them". 



PASTORS AND PEOPLE. 
Address by The Hon. George M. Woodruff. 
Congregational Church, August 1, 1920. 

As the oldest male member of this church and for a little 
over one-quarter of its lifetime one of its deacons, it has been 
thought essential that I should take some part in these exer- 
cises. Naturally that part will be reminiscent. It should 
be remembered that at and for many years after the settle- 
ment of the town it constituted but one Ecclesiastical Society 
and all votes relative to Ecclesiastical matters were passed in 
town meetings. 

Our first pastor, as that tablet shows, was the Rev. Timo- 
thy Collins. At the first town meeting of which we have 
any record, on November 6th, 1721, some eighteen months after 
the General Assembly of Connecticut had granted liberty to 
Lieut. John Marsh and Deacon John Buel, with others, to 
settle a town at a place called Bantam, to be known as Litch- 
field, it was voted that Mr. Collins be "called to a settlement 
in this place in the work of the ministry". A salary liberal 
for those days was voted him and he was ordained on the 19th 
of June, 1723 and continued as the minister until November 
15th, 1752 and remained a resident of Litchfield, practicing 
medicine and acting as Justice of the Peace until his death 
in 1776. During the earlier years of his ministry, the feeling 
between him and his people was very harmonious, but later 
there was a good deal of friction over the matter of his salary 
and alleged "absence from the work of the ministry". Indica- 
tion of this friction is seen in the record of the vote passed 
on the 14th of April, 1731, in regard to "seating the meeting 
house". The record reads, "Voted, after dark, that Mr. Col- 
lins have the choice of pews for himself and family", but the 
town at a previous meeting had voted that no act of the town 
should stand in force that was passed after day light failed to 
record it. It would seem therefore that what was apparently 
a courtesy to Mr. Collins was in fact and perhaps intentionally 
an affront. The controversy over salary evidently continued 



10 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

for some time after lie ceased his ministry, as the Rev. Doctor 
Mendenhall has a writ issued by Abijah Catlin, Justice of the 
Peace of Harwinton, on April 8th, 1758 and served by Oliver 
Wolcott, Sheriff, by which Mr. Collins brought suit against 
Ebenezer Marsh, Esq., and the rest of the inhabitants of the 
Town of Litchfield to recover one hundred and seventy pounds 
which he claimed was due him as salary. In 1765 he was 
appointed a surgeon in one of the Connecticut Regiments in 
the expedition against Crown Point. He was described as 
a gentleman of good talents and stately demeanor, but with 
manners by no means conciliatory or popular. A disqualifi- 
cation both as minister and physician. 

Mr. Collins was succeeded by the Rev. Judah Champion 
in 1753, a very able man and of most kindly nature. His 
portrait is in our Historical Rooms. He was the beloved 
minister for forty-five years, including the trying and stirring 
days of the American Revolution. Two instances may be 
cited as illustrating Mr. Champion's belief that the service 
of God and Country were one. Both instances are worth 
recalling in detail. One was his famous prayer, a comming- 
ling of Cromwellism and Mohammedism, on the occasion of 
the presence in his congregation of Colonel Tallmadge and his 
squadron of cavalry at the time when Lord Cornwallis was 
approaching our shores with a large fleet. The prayer is 
well known but is so illustrative of the times and of the man 
you will pardon its reproduction. Thus he prayed: "O Lord, 
we view with terror the approach of the enemies of thy holy 
religion. Wilt thou send storm and tempest to toss them 
upon the sea and overwhelm them upon the mighty deep, or to 
scatter them to the uttermost parts of the earth. But, per- 
adventure, should any escape thy vengence, collect them 
together again, O Lord, as in the hollow of thy hand, and let 
thy lightnings play upon them. We beseech thee moreover, 
that thou do gird up the loins of these thy servants who are 
going forth to fight thy battles. Make them strong men, that 
one shall chase a thousand, and two shall put ten thousand to 
flight. Hold before them the shield with which thou was 
wont in the old time to protect thy chosen people. Give them 
swift feet, that they may pursue their enemies, and swords 
terrible as thy destroying Angel that they may cleave them 
down when thev have overtaken them. Preserve these ser- 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 11 

vants of thine, Almighty God, and bring them once more to 
their home and friends, if thou canst do it consistently with 
thine high purposes. If, on the other hand, thou has decreed 
that they shall die in battle, let thy spirit be present with 
them, and breathe upon them, that they may go up as a sweet 
sacrifice into the courts of thy temple, where are habitations 
prepared for them from the foundations of the world". The 
other occasion is thus described: 

"One pleasant Sabbath morning the congregation had 
gathered together and had just commenced the morning hymn 
when, through the still streets, there came the sharp clatter 
of a horse's hoofs, always so ominous, at that time, of tidings 
from the army. As usual, when the courier arrived in any 
town on the Sabbath he made straight for the "meeting-house". 
Reaching the door he dismounted and flinging the bridle over 
the horse's neck, entered the building. The singing ceased, 
and every eye was turned on the stranger as he walked up 
the broad aisle and ascended the pulpit stairs. He handed 
Mr. Champion a paper, who, with a smile of triumph on his 
face, arose and read: "St. Johns is taken". It must be 
remembered that this place had been besieged six weeks, till 
people began almost to dispair of its ever being taken. The 
noble pastor, the moment he had finished the sentence, lifted 
his eyes to heaven and exclaimed: "Thank God for the victory". 
The chorister, sitting opposite the pulpit, in the gallery, clap- 
ped his hands and shouted: "Amen and Amen". For awhile 
the joy was unrestrained, but the pastor soon checked it by 
saying: "There is something more to be heard". He then 
read a lengthy communication stating that the army was in 
a suffering condition. It was now the latter part of Novem- 
ber, and there on the borders of Canada, the winter was already 
setting in, and yet the troops were about to march for Quebec 
to undergo the rigors of a winter campaign. It described in 
vivid language their suffering condition. They were desti- 
tute of clothing, without shoes or stockings, and yet were 
ordered to traverse the frozen fields of the north. The touch- 
ing description lost none of its pathos as read by the pastor 
and commented on by him at its close. When he had finished, 
there was hardly a dry eye in the house. Especially the 
women were overcome with emotion. As soon as the congre- 



12 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

gation was dismissed, a few prominent ladies were seen to 
gather round the young pastor with eager countenances. They 
were evidently asking him some questions, and it was equally 
evident, from his benevolent smile and nodding head, that he 
was answering them satisfactorily. Soon they began to move 
rapidly among the other women, who in turn, gathered into 
groups in earnest conversation. After a little while they all 
dispersed to their homes. When the congregation assembled 
for the afternoon service not a woman was in the church. The 
wives, mothers and maidens had laid aside their Sabbath 
apparel, and drawn forth their spinning-wheels, set in motion 
their looms, and brought out their knitting-needles and hand 
cards, and the village suddenly became a hive of industry. 
On that usually still Puritan Sabbath afternoon there now 
rung out on every side the hum of the wheel and the click of 
the shuttle — sounds never before heard in Litchfield on the 
Sabbath Day, and which contrasted strangely with those of 
prayer and praise in the adjoining sanctuary. Yet both 
believed that they were serving God. The women were work- 
ing for those brave patriots who were about to march, desti- 
tute and barefoot, over the frozen ground to strike for free- 
dom. Many years after, when a venerable old man, Mr. Cham- 
pion was asked by his granddaughter how he could approve 
such desecration of the Sabbath, he turned on her a solemn 
look and replied simply: "Mercy before sacrifice"." A pre- 
cedent worthily followed by our own "Red Cross" in the late 
World War. 

Our third pastor was the Kev. Dan Huntington, who came 
to us from a tutorship at Yale. He was an eloquent preacher 
and a very learned man. His ministry seems to have been 
greatly enjoyed both by pastor and people. He wrote of 
Litchfield and his congregation: "A delightful village on a 
fruitful hill, richly endowed with its schools, both professional 
and scientific and their accomplished teachers; with its 
learned lawyers and Senators and Representatives, both in 
the National and State departments; and with a population 
enlightened and respectable". During the ministry of the 
Rev. Mr. Collins, the town had voted in regard to a proposed 
visit of some "revivalists", so-called, that it did not wish to 
see them; so the report was circulated that Litchfield had 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 13 

"voted Christ out of their borders", but during the ministry 
of Mr. Huntington, occurred a remarkable revival of religious 
interest, resulting in the admission to the various churches of 
the town of some three hundred persons. Mr. Huntington was 
a gentleman of some property and built for himself the house 
which stood where Mr. Granniss now resides and was burned 
in 1862. In 1S07 Mr. Huntington felt obliged to tender his 
resignation but the Church and Society voted not to concur. 
Two years later however, on advice of a council called for the 
purpose, his resignation was regretfully accepted. Mr. Hunt- 
ington was the father of the Rev. Frederick S. Huntington, 
who when I was in the Cambridge Law School, was a profes- 
sor, and the college preacher, at Harvard. A most delightful 
gentleman and interesting preacher. He subsequently, as 
you know, became the Episcopal Bishop of Central New York. 
A granddaughter of the Rev. Dan Huntington is with us today. 
I would here say that the relations between Congregational- 
ists and Episcopalians in Litchfield have always been unus- 
ually friendly, and we all recall with amusement the letter 
which Mary Powell Davies, wife of John Davies, Jr., who 
was such a tower of strength for the Episcopal Church in its 
early days in this town, and was an ancestor of Bishop Davies, 
wrote back to old England, in which she enlarged upon the 
beauties of the scenery by which she was surrounded in 
"Davies Hollow" but described herself as "entirely alone, 
having no society and no one to associate with but Presby- 
terians and Wolves". 

My own memory goes back to the fourth pastor, Doctor 
Lyman Beecher, not to his ministry, as he left here before I 
was born, but to the man himself. Dr. Beecher was installed 
in March, 1810, President Dwight of Yale College preaching 
the sermon. When I was a school boy at Andover, Doctor 
Beecher was living in Boston and at a time of unusual religi- 
ous interest in the school he came up to talk with and advise 
the boys, and though physically so weak that he was obliged 
to recline upon his couch while talking to us, his mind was 
as alert as at his best. As he reasoned with us of "righteous- 
ness, temperance and judgment to come", we did not tremble 
like Felix before Paul, but the impressions we then received 
remained with us through life. The story of the introduction 



14 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

of stoves into the church, in Doctor Beecher's time, and the 
fainting of the good woman when there was no fire in them 
is too well known to be here repeated. His six temperance 
sermons, following the organization here in 1789 of the first 
temperance society in the country, marked a new era in the 
history of the nation. We are fortunate in having several 
of Doctor Beecher's great-grandchildren with us at this time 
and shall hear from one or more of them. 

Doctor Beecher's immediate successor for two years, the 
Rev. Mr. Carroll, I do not remember ever to have seen, but 
I was baptised by his successor, Doctor Laurens P. Hickok, 
who while living in Amherst after his distinguished presi- 
dency of Union College, I met several times, and who as some 
of you will remember, offered the prayer at the dedication of 
this building. During his ministry of seven years 214 per- 
sons were received into the church. 

The Rev. Jonathan Brace, pastor from 1838 to 1844 was 
the first whose personal appearance, while here, I remember, 
though I was too young to remember his sermons. His dig- 
nified bearing as he walked our streets, especially in cool 
weather, in his long circular cloak, with its fold, toga like, 
over his left shoulder was most awe inspiring. 

The sermons of the Rev. Benjamin L. Swan, our pastor 
from 1846 to 1856, were all of a high order, but the one which 
was most impressed on the minds of all who heard it, was on 
the death and burial of Moses from the text (Deut. 32: 48-50) ; 
"And the Lord spake unto Moses that self same day saying, 
Get thee up into this mountain, Abarim, unto Mount Nebo, 
which is in the land of Moab, over against Jericho and die 
in the mount whither thou goest up and be gathered unto 
thy people". Mr. Swan was I believe the first homeopathist 
in town and it was said that he carried his belief so far that 
he allowed his boys only one huckleberry at a time. This 
story would however give an impression of eccentricities which 
did not exist. 

The Rev. Leonard W. Bacon, who came to us while I was 
in College, was a Boanerges or son of thunder, in a two-fold 
capacity — both as a worthy son of that great Congregational 
Divine and Authority, Doctor Leonard Bacon of the Center 
Church, New Haven and individually. He was fearless and 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 15 

sometime rash in his attacks on everything and everybody he 
thought wrong, and therefore made decided enemies and warm 
friends, and left without the kindest feelings towards us as 
was indicated in his reply to the Kev. Mr. McLean's request 
for a word of remembrance for his historical address. In ack- 
nowledgement Mr. Bacon sent a postal card with : "'see Exodus 
32:9". Which reads: "And the Lord said unto Moses, I have 
seen this people and behold it is a stiff-necked people". In later 
years Mr. Bacon's feelings towards us materially changed. He 
was very energetic and progressive in all matters of interest in 
the church and society. He was instrumental in the purchase 
by the Society of the land for the horse-sheds and the erection 
of forty, all of which were usually occupied in his day, on 
Sundays, instead of only four or five as at present. He intro- 
duced new hymn books and raised the money for a new organ 
and had the organ and choir located in the gallery at the 
rear of the church instead of over the vestibule back of the 
pulpit, which was between the doors as you entered. 

Our minister during the civil war was the Kev. George 
Richards, a worthy successor of Judah Champion of Revolu- 
tionary fame and like him of a most lovable nature, though 
Parson Champion's warlike prayer would give a different 
impression of him. Mr. Richards did noble work in encourag- 
ing enlistments and upon him rested the burden of solacing 
many a mourning heart for the soldier dead. On one occa- 
sion the caskets containing the remains of five soldiers were 
arranged in front of our church for funeral services — three of 
them brothers who had been killed or died of wounds received 
in battle within eighteen days of each other, though in differ- 
ent regiments and at different places. 

Following Mr. Richards came the Rev. William B. Clark 
for four years. He had been the College Preacher at Yale 
and was a finished sermonizer and devoted to parish work. 

The Rev. Henry B. Elliott was in all places and under all 
circumstances the educated clergyman. 

His successor, the Rev. Allan McLean was a man of 
peculiarly lovely character which seemed to draw men into 
the service of his Master. Except during the revivals in Mr. 
Huntington's and Doctor Hickok's time, never were more 



16 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

adults received into church membership than during the minis- 
try of Mr. McLean. 

The pastorates of his successors are all so recent that 
they do not need to be called to your remembrance. 

In April 1723 the people of Litchfield voted to build their 
first church. It was 45 feet long by 35 feet broad and at its 
raising all the adult males in the town sat on the sills at one 
time. The second church was finished in 1762 and was 60 
feet by 45 and had a steeple. Both stood in the center of the 
village about where the Beecher monument now stands. The 
third church was dedicated on the 15th of July, 1829, the same 
day that Doctor Hickok was installed. It stood as you 
know on the same site as this building. When I was young 
the Chapel, or Conference or Lecture Room as it was always 
called, was a separate one-story building standing back of and 
a little to the right of the church. The seats were of the 
natural wood, unpainted, on each side of a middle aisle and 
the men and women sat on opposite sides. Later the arrange- 
ment was changed, a double row of more comfortable and 
cushioned seats/ occupying the center with two side aisles along 
the walls. 

The exterior of the church itself is familiar to your sight 
as Colonial Hall though now without the steeple, which gave 
it an added dignity. It had a double row of straight backed 
pews through the center of the audience room with single 
rows on each side with aisles between the body and side pews. 
Each pew had a door opening upon the aisle and closed with 
a brass button. The pulpit was between the entrance doors, 
the pews facing the pulpit so that all had to pass inspec- 
tion as they walked up to their respective seats. I say 
walked "up" advisedly as the floor rose several inches from 
front to rear, which sometimes caused those not accustomed 
to it to waver a little as they passed to their seats. I well 
remember how in frosty weather Doctor Henry W. Buel would 
stop and wipe the moisture from his glasses before starting 
up the incline. The audience room was lofty, being open 
from what is now the lower floor to the rounded ceiling. The 
galleries occupied the sides and rear as at present in the Hall, 
but were higher in front and more on a level. The space now 
occupied by the stage was the gallery for the organ and choir. 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 17 

This arrangement enabled the chorister to communicate easily 
with the minister. 

It was not however in our church that the minister having 
fallen asleep during the singing of a long hymn and being 
awakened by a touch from the chorister, who informed him 
that the hymn "was out", rousing up, replied: "fill it up then 
— fill it up". There was no cellar under the church and the 
icy winds of winter had free circulation under the floor, so 
that the only way to keep one's feet from being icy, also, was 
the family foot stove carried to church usually by one of the 
younger members of the family. What warmth there was in 
the church came from big box stoves in the corners, the pipes 
running from those in front to the chimneys in the rear and 
always when the fires were started dripping creosote. The 
most startling innovation in the established order of things 
after the introduction of stoves in the time of Doctor Beecher, 
was the trimming of the church for Christmas, first done in 
1859. One of those most opposed to allowing this to be done 
was the son of the good deacon who had so violently opposed 
the introduction of stoves, and it was a singular coincidence 
that when one of the long wreaths which stretched from the 
corner of the church to the center of the ceiling, broke from 
its fastenings, the only person hit by it was this son of the 
old deacon. Fortunately he was not at all injured. A large 
and handsome cross of evergreens had been hung upon the 
wall above the pulpit on Saturday evening, but when the con- 
gregation assembled on Sunday morning, it had disappeared, 
the explanation being that when the chairman of the Society's 
Committee came early to church to see if everything was all 
right he discovered the cross, and ordered the sexton forthwith 
to remove the "emblem of papacy". 

And now I suppose I am expected to apologize for the 
building of this Church, instead of preserving that fine old 
specimen of so-called colonial architecture now around the 
corner. There is no apology coming, but an explanation may 
be in order. In the late sixties, no one thought of preserving 
the old, if new could be had. As an instance in point, Mrs. 
Lucy Beach offered to contribute $10,000 towards building a 
new church or $1,000 towards remodeling the old. And it 
was found easier to raise the amount necessary for a new 



18 LITCHFIELD BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

building than what would be required to remodel the old. To 
keep it unchanged was not to be thought of. An effort was 
also made to secure the lot north of the Bank and build thereon 
a stone church. Two subscriptions of $1,000 each, and one of 
$300 were all that could be secured for that purpose. When 
this building was completed, the very few who had opposed 
rebuilding expressed themselves as more than satisfied. 



THE MISSION OF THE MEETING HOUSE. 

Address by The Rev. Rockwell Harmon Potter, D. D. 
(Pastor of the Center Church, Hartford.) 

Congregational Church, August 1, 1920. 

The sermon at the Sunday morning service was preached 
by Rev. Rockwell Harmon Potter, D.D., upon the subject "The 
Mission of the Meeting House". The masterly argument, given 
in fine, nervous English with an abundance of unuBual illus- 
trations, proved the Church to be an essential of human pro- 
gress, contributing to spiritual health and stability. Life, 
apparently Christian, but lived apart from and outside of the 
Church, is life, that perhaps unrecognized by itself, has drawn 
all its strength, all its ideals from the Christian formula as 
evidenced in Church organizations; and the test of such a life 
is that it stops with itself — it has no vitality to pass on. It 
is non-propagating. The impression made by the preacher 
was one of earnestness and power.* 

The sermon was not a written discourse and can be given 
only in the following brief summary furnished by Dr. Potter. 

Text — Haggai 1:4: "Is it a time for you yourselves to 
dwell in your ceiled houses while this house lieth waste?" 

The rebuke of the prophet was challenged by the spokes- 
men of the people. They offered the excuse that they had not 
lacked in a willingness to undertake the task of rebuilding the 
temple, but that the imperative and immediate necessities of 
providing for the physical life had been so great as to prevent 
them from undertaking the task of providing for the temple's 
ministration to their spiritual wants. They had no time for 
so relatively useless an undertaking. 

They offered also an apology. They said they had learned 
that it is possible to worship God without a temple, and there- 
fore they had no need of rebuilding the temple that had fallen 
in ruins. 

And again they offered an appeal contending that the tem- 



*Note by Rev. Frank J. Goodwin, D.D. 



20 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

pie had been a place where the religion of their fathers had 
been degraded and prostituted. They therefore were slow to 
rebuild it lest it again should degrade and prostitute the faith. 

Now this excuse and this apology and this appeal have 
been made in every age and are made today. 

In answer to the excuse let us affirm that man does not 
live by bread alone. It is the spiritual values that give worth 
to all material things, and for the cultivation of these spiritual 
values we need the place of prayer and the house of meeting. 

In meeting the apology let us insist that man is such a 
being that unless he learn to worship God somewhere at some 
time, he does not worship God anywhere at any time. It is 
the mission of the Meeting House to provide that instruction 
and discipline and exercise in worship which will make it pos- 
sible for man to live in communion with God. 

In answer to the appeal let us confess that too often the 
Church in the present, as the temple in the past, has been 
unworthily used, but let us bear witness that the noblest lives 
we have known have been lives taught and trained in the fel- 
lowship of the Church as the organized institution of religion. 
Let us rejoice that the Church has so taught the Christian gos- 
pel that many who are outside her walls have learned to live 
by the power of that gospel. 

I remember that once I saw an old apple tree from which 
a great limb had been torn by a sudden storm. Upon this 
limb which lay outside the orchard and along the road was 
half-formed fruit, and I grieved at what seemed to be the loss 
and waste of it. But when the autumn came I found that 
this fruit on this torn limb had come to fullness and ripeness 
equally with the fruit on the boughs of the parent trunk. I 
learned then that when that limb was torn away, enough 
of the life and sap of the tree were torn away with it to 
bring to fruitage the fruit that was already half-formed. But 
when the next spring time came, on the boughs of the parent 
tree there were springing leaves and bursting buds and the 
promise of harvest again. On the torn limb there was no 
springing leaf and no sign of bud or blossom and no promise 
of any harvest or fruitage. 

Men and women separated from the Church, whole gener- 
ations separated from the Church, may carry away with them 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 21 

sufficient of the Christian principle, of the Christian message, 
of the Christian ideal to bring to fruitage in their lives many 
Christian graces. But this is not to say that without the 
Christian institution of religion ministering in the life of 
man, you can bring to fruitage, generation after generation, 
the Christian virtues of love and joy and peace, either in the 
individual life or in the social relationships of men. 

Let us therefore affirm the mission of the Meeting House 
to bear witness to the spiritual elements of life and their val- 
ues, to exercise life in the practice of communion with God 
and to train life that it may conform to the precepts of the 
Kingdom of God and may achieve the ideals of the Kingdom 
of God. 

As the Meeting House in Litchfield has served these pur- 
poses through the noble generations that are gone, so may the 
Meeting House here serve the generation that now rejoices in 
this goodly heritage from the past, and those other generations 
yet unborn that will surely need like ministry from the God 
of the fathers, who will keep His covenant with their children. 



Note: While the associations in Mr. John Davies' mind 
with the name of St. Michael may never be determined, it is 
worthy of notice that a recent English author writes of another 
"St. Michael's Church, situated, as all St. Michael's Churches 
are, upon a height". Might not Litchfield's elevated situation 
have thus suggested the name? 



THE FIKST EPISCOPAL SOCIETY OF LITCHFIELD. 

Address by Admiral G. P. Colvocoresses, U. 8. N. (retired). 

St. Michael's Church, August 1, 1920. 

Two weeks ago our Rector placed in my hands an old 
manuscript volume of Records with the request that I would 
give on this occasion a sketch of the First Episcopal Society 
during the one hundred and seventy-five years of its existence 
in this town. These old Records contain memoranda and 
annotations copied from Mss. of Rectors and clerks of the 
Parish and collated by the Rev. Isaac Jones. A compendium 
of these early notes also appears in the handwriting of Dr. 
Algernon Lewis, long-time Clerk of the Parish, which he 
states was mainly based on the papers of the Hon. Seth Pres- 
ton Beers, a prominent layman of St. Michael's for half a 
century. This abridgment ends in 1864, from which time it 
has been continued by succeeding Rectors. 

The traditional and historical annals of Litchfield have 
been so ably presented in the recently published "History of 
Litchfield" that there remains but little to be gleaned from 
other sources and this sketch must appear largely as a work 
of supererogation. 

The history of the First Episcopal Society may be chrono- 
logically divided into four periods: First, From the meeting 
of the little company of Church of England followers in 1745 
to the building of the first church in 1749. 

Second: From 1749 to the erection of the church in the 
village in 1812. 

Third: From 1812 to 1851, when the present St. Michael's 
was built. 

Fourth: From 1851 to the beginning of the memorial 
church. 

First Period. 

Our interest centers primarily on the beginnings of the 
Society among a community of Presbyterians inhabiting the 
western hills of Connecticut. Its foundation was due, under 



24 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

God, to the zeal of that stanch churchman, John Davies, who 
came from the Parish of Kington, Herefordshire, England, in 
the year 1735 and purchased a tract of land, then called Birch 
Plain, within the bounds of Litchfield, but subsequently a 
part of Washington. It is known to this day as "Davies' 
Hollow". 

Davies was the only churchman in this region for several 
years until joined by Samuel Cole and a number of families 
from Northbury, now Plymouth, recent conformers to the 
Church of England. Mr. Cole was a man of education and 
was later appointed a teacher by the British Society for the 
Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. In the mean- 
time the Rev. Dr. Samuel Johnson, afterwards President of 
King's College (now Columbia) was invited to preach and 
lecture, and he performed the first service of the English ritual 
in this town. 

From the statement of Daniel Landon, the first clerk of 
the Society, we learn that the little band of church people 
met for worship in the house of Capt. Jacob Griswold in the 
western part of the town. A record of their first meeting 
was preserved on a blank leaf in the prayer book of Mrs. 
Deborah Plumb, the first person baptized by Episcopal rites 
in Litchfield. Therein are given the names of thirteen heads 
of families who assembled on November 5th, 1745. These 
members of the First Episcopal Society were mostly seceders 
from the Congregational church; they were excused from pay- 
ing taxes to that church by vote of their townsmen in 1746. 

The Rev. Truman Marsh gives in a note the reason for 
this defection, which he attributes to the preaching of the 
Rev. Mr. Whitfield, whose "new divinity and new measures 
produced great excitement and led to investigations of the 
truth by which many were persuaded that peace, order and 
Christian Charity were alone to be found in the Episcopal 
Communion". Another reason is ascribed to the unpopularity 
of the first Congregational clergyman in Litchfield. 

Second Period 

The next step warmly advocated by Mr. Davies was the 

building of a church, and after considerable discussion, it 

was decided to erect it a mile west of the town, on the road 

to Milton near the little brook that was then called "Hatter's 



LITCHFIELD BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 25 

Run". The site was about opposite the present residence of 
Mr. Hunt. Mr. Davies gave fifty-two acres of land for this 
purpose and fifty acres more were given by the Society. Mr. 
Davies' deed ran for 998 years and stipulated that the con- 
sideration was to be one pepper-corn, paid annually, if 
demanded, on St. Michael's day; this no doubt suggested ' the 
name of the Parish. The frame was raised on April 23, 1749, 
covered in and partially finished; it remained in this condition 
for twenty years. The first service was performed by the 
Rev. Mr. Mansfield. 

Mr. Davies lived to a good old age and was buried in 
the West Cemetery; it is to be regretted that no stone marks 
his grave His grandson, the Rev. Thomas Davies, was 
ordained a priest in England, appointed a missionary to 
Litchfield and succeeded the first Rector of this Parish, but 
died at the early age of thirty years. John Davies, Jr., came 
with his family from England at the time the church was 
built and settled in Davies' Hollow. It was his wife, who 
in writing to friends in England, described herself as "entirely 
alone, having no society, and with nothing to associate with 
but Presbyterians and wolves". 

Those who read that vivid description of the life of the 
early settlers given by Horace Bushnell in the "Age of Home- 
spun", may in some measure realize the hard conditions of 
frontier life and comprehend that the Episcopal Church was 
distinctly an exotic in the forbidding atmosphere of New Eng- 
land. Two hundred years ago the life in the colonies centered 
in the churches and religious societies. Men brought their 
religion with them in the westward march of empire as they 
did their families and household goods. 

The only encouragement received by Church of England 
settlers was from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel 
in Foreign Parts, which up to the time of the Revolution gen- 
erously aided the struggling missions. It is difficult for us 
now to fully appreciate the debt of gratitude that we owe to 
the brave and devoted founders of the First Episcopal Society. 
Among them two names will always stand pre-eminent,— John 
Davies, benefactor, and Daniel Landon, the first clerk of the 
Parish and holder of that office for forty years. The latter 
is described as a man of sound intellect and extensive reading. 



26 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

He was buried in the West cemetery and his stone bore the 
following quaint inscription composed by himself: 

"Lo! here I leave this earthly clay 
And fly beyond the etherial blue, 

Unchained into eternal day 
To sing the praise of God anew". 

The first Hector of the Society was the Rev. Solomon 
Palmer. He had been Congregational pastor in Cornwall for 
six years, when one Sabbath morning, to the surprise and 
sorrow of his congregation, he announced his conformity to 
the Episcopal church. Ordained in England he was appointed 
missionary for Great Harrington, Litchfield and Cornwall with 
an annual stipend of £60 — "old tenor currency"— in value one- 
fourth the present £, and the glebe. 

To give consecutively the many worthy Rectors who min- 
istered to the Society is beyond the scope of this sketch, and 
only the most notable occurrences during their incumbencies 
can be mentioned. 

After Mr. Palmer's death, Mr. Benjamin Farnham, a pious 
and talented candidate for Orders, officiated in the Society. 
In the meantime the Rev. Mr. Moseley was sent from England 
to fill the mission. The congregation refused to receive him 
and he returned to London. As a consequence of this insub- 
ordination the funds were suspended for a brief time. Later 
they were restored at the reduced sum of £20, and the use of 
the glebe. The above incident throws a light on the causes 
for dissatisfaction preceding the Revolution which was soon 
to be so painfully felt by the parishioners of St. Michael's. 
The Rev. Truman Marsh records their hardships and perse- 
cutions. He states that he "had been ridiculed and persecuted 
in going to and from the church on the Lord's day". The win- 
dows of the church were broken and wooden shutters were 
substituted for them. When General Washington passed 
through Litchfield some of his troopers threw stones at the 
church and the General rebuked them in the following words: 
"I am a churchman and wish not to see the church dishonored 
and desecrated in this manner". It may be recalled that on 
another occasion associated with the history of this town, the 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 127 

General showed his high sense of law and order: When the 
statue of George III was pulled down in the Bowling Green 
in New York, he characterized it as the work of a lawless 
mob. He did not condemn the act but the fact that it was 
not decently done by authority. 

During the Revolution the devoted Mr. Landon and others 
met every Sabbath and read prayers and a sermon. At the 
close of the war the Rector, Rev. James Nichols, by his efforts 
did much to remove prejudice and promote good will. 

Whatever were the bitternesses excited between Whig and 
Tory, and the differences among Churchmen and Presbyterians, 
much allowance should be made for the animosities engendered 
by a fratricidal war. There appears to have been but little 
persecution in Litchfield compared with conditions in some 
of the colonies at that time. And it should be remembered 
that Presbyterians here tolerantly sold church lands to Epis- 
copalians, and magnanimously remitted the taxes of their 
seceding members. 

On October 26, 1784, the Society was legally incorporated 
by Act of the General Assembly of Connecticut. 

The Rev. Ashbel Baldwin in the following year was 
installed Rector. He was a native of Litchfield and had 
the distinction of receiving the first Episcopal ordination in 
this country from the hands of Bishop Seabury. 

During the Rectorship of the Rev. David Butler a number 
of the members of the Society in Bradleyville, now part of 
Bantam, seceded and built St. Paul's church, 1797, but later 
returned to St. Michael's. 

In 1799 the Rev. Truman Marsh assumed charge of the 
Society, at that time also comprising the associated Parishes 
of New Milford, New Preston and Roxbury. 

Third Period 

In 1802, Trinity Church, Milton was commenced but not 
completed for several years. During a period of high political 
excitement in Litchfield some fifty persons joined the Episcopal 
Society owing to their differences with the Congregational 
minister. 

A meeting of parishioners was held at the residence of 
the Hon. Seth P. Beers in this town in 1811 to consider the 



28 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

building of a church "on the hill". The land on which St. 
Michael's now stands was deeded by Samuel Marsh, Esq., and 
a subscription of $1,600 was raised. The West, or first church, 
was taken down and some of its timbers used in the new 
edifice. The Rev. Isaac Jones officiated as the first Rector 
of the new church: December, 1812. The sermon preached 
by him on the hundredth anniversary of the formation of the 
Society, with its appendix, is a most valuable contribution to 
the history of the Parish. Consecration was performed by 
Bishop Brownell in 1824. 

Fourth Period 

The first church on the hill was used but a quarter of 
a century when it became evident that the needs of the Parish 
required a larger building. The corner stone was laid of the 
present St. Michael's, July 15, 1851; the former structure was 
taken down and the Court House used as a temporary place of 
worship. The total cost of this third church, including fur- 
nishings, was $7,241.34. The Rev. Jno. J. Brandegee was 
the first Rector. 

In 1857 the Parish received from the widow of the Rev. 
Truman Marsh the gift of the Rectory; also a donation of 
$1,000 from Mr. Hosea Webster for a permanent fund. Since 
that time many benefactions of stained glass windows, chancel 
furnishings, a fine organ and various adornments have con- 
tributed to the beauty of the edifice and dignity of the worship, 
endearing it to our hearts with loving and sacred memories. 

On Sunday, October 26, 1884, was observed the one hun- 
dredth anniversary of the organization of the Parish and a 
notable sermon was preached by the Rev. Dr. L. P. Bissell, the 
Rector, that was printed by resolution of the Vestry. Ten 
years later the spire of St. Michael's was blown down by a 
high east wind; it remained in its truncated form, thus justi- 
fying the architectural views of the late Bishop Williams of 
blessed memory, who exclaimed when he heard of the catastro- 
phe — "Towers for the hills and steeples for the plains!" 

November 5, 1895, was commemorated as the 150th anni- 
versary of the first meeting of the founders of the Episcopal 
Society in Litchfield. The lessons were) read by Thomas 
Davies, Jr., at that time a theological student, and son of the 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION &9 

Bishop of Michigan, lineal descendant of John Davies, the 
founder. 

The Kectorship of our Parish was held for twenty-eight 
years, with but one interval, by the Rev. Dr. S. O. Seymour. 
When his eightieth birthday was reached he assigned the 
charge and was appointed Rector Emeritus. On September 
8, 1918, he passed peacefully to his final reward, deeply mourned 
by his congregation, his townsmen and the clergy of the state 
and country with whom he had so long been associated. 

Among the good works of our Parish, accomplished by 
willing hands and pious hearts, that of St. Michael's Guild 
should not be forgotten. For many years it was superin- 
tended with great zeal and efficiency by the late Mrs. Cornelia 
B. Hinsdale and added greatly to the support of the church 
and rectory. In the late World War the Parish of St 
Michael's was efficiently employed in patriotic and charitable 
activities. Twenty-four men and five women entered public 
service in various capacities. 

In 1912 the Bronson house and lot were purchased for the 
Society, largely through the initiative of the late Dr. S. O. 
Seymour. The removal of this dwelling in 1918 and the acqui- 
sition of other minor additions to the close have given a suit- 
able site for the handsome memorial that is now being erected. 
This ends the fourth period. 

Under happy auspices a new era has begun for St. 
Michael's; may we not hope and believe, in the words of good 
Bishop Berkeley: 

"The four first acts already past, 

A fifth shall close the drama with the day; 

Time's noblest offspring is the last". 




Oh 



METHODISM IX LITCHFIELD. 

Address by Miss Esther E. Thompson. 

Methodist Church, August 1, 1920. 

Members and Friends of Litchfield Methodist Episcopal 
Church : , 

When it was proposed that a paper concerning the forma- 
tive period of Litchfield Methodism, should be written for the 
Bi-Centennial Sunday the question arose, what items from our 
Litchfield note-book would be of most interest to the church 
of today? 

"As we mused the fire burned". 

The early years of the Society chronicle customs, speech 
and hymns so radically different from those of the present 
time that it will be difficult for the younger people to under- 
stand. 

"In memory of our friends above 
Who have obtained the prize", 

we offer this sketch knowing that they would now sing: — 

"One army of the living God, 

To His command we bow, 

Part of His host have crossed the flood, 

And part are crossing now". 

The establishment of Methodism upon "Litchfield Hill" is 
vague, and can be fully traced by neither time nor place. Like 
Melchisedec of old it was "without father, without mother, 
without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end 
of life". For years it was literally "The church that is in 
their house". The spirit of Methodism was abroad and brooded 
here and there. Where there was an adherent of more than 
ordinary strength — there, at his or her house — would be an 
opening for occasional prayer meetings, held in the kitchen, 
barn or under nearby trees, to which sympathizers for miles 
around would come. At rare intervals an "Exhorter" or 



32 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

"Itinerant preacher" from the nearer "circuits" would find 
hiB way hither and hold a service. Even when a foothold 
for the denomination was gained churches were first built in 
Milton and Gooseborough and not till many years later in 
Litchfield Village. 

A few dates only stand out against the dim past by which 
the origin and growth of the denomination is traced. The 
new "White's History of Litchfield", to which we refer you 
for further details, quoting from early chronicles fully 
states all that is known of what are supposed to have been 
the first Methodist sermons preached in town — those of the 
Kev. Freeborn Garretson, Superintendent of Northern District, 
and his colored servant Harry, in the first St. Michael's Epis- 
copal Church one mile west of town, and in "The Old Church 
on the Green", on Wednesday, June 23rd, 1790, when on their 
horseback journey from Hudson River to Boston; and again, 
July 13th, 1790, on their return. It is quite possible that 
earlier sermons may have been preached in private houses in 
this town as "Litchfield Circuit", comprising the northwest 
section of Connecticut, was organized in June, 1790 : and at the 
spring "Conference" held in New York in May, 1791, the first 
"Circuit Riders" were appointed to take charge — Mathew 
Swain and James Covel. 

July 21st, 1791, Bishop Asbury— "The Prophet of the Long 
Road", as he has been called, because of his extensive "Itin- 
erant" journeys, preached in St. Michael's. 

These dates, coupled with that of the death of Rev. John 
Wesley in London, March 2nd, 1791, are most interesting. The 
Methodist Meetinghouse in Litchfield was not built until 1837 
— nearly fifty years later, and the first Methodist Society in 
New England was formed by Rev. Jesse Lee in Stratfield, Con- 
necticut, Sept. 26th, 1789, less than a year before "Litchfield 
Circuit" was organized! Nor was it a mark of special liber- 
ality of sentiment that St. Michael's opened her doors to Gar- 
retson and Asbury, for, until after Wesley's death, the Metho- 
dists were considered classes or missions of the Church of 
England. John Wesley had not wished to break from the 
established church. Until quite a recent date, even within 
my memory, church organizations were usually called Societies, 
and their places of worship were simple meeting houses or 
chapelg. 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 33 

The first great break occurred when John Wesley, after 
repeatedly urging that some of his preachers should be conse- 
crated Bishops so they could come to this country prepared 
to ordain other ministers authorized to perform marriage cere- 
monies, administer the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's 
Supper, etc., among the American Societies which were then in 
a most chaotic state for lack of Episcopal leadership; he 
shocked his brother Charles and others by a most audacious 
deed! Privately, in his own room, Sept. 20th, 17S0, he "set 
apart" Dr. Thomas Coke to the office of "Superintendent of the 
Societies of America" — virtually ordained him Bishop! Coke 
returned to this country and performed the same office on 
Francis Asbury. For this irregular act — ignoring "Apostolic 
Succession" — Wesley has been severely criticized. It was 
specially bold and unexpected as during early life he was an 
ascetic — a most strong adherent of the high church class of the 
Church of England — and for years it was uncertain whether 
he would turn to Catholicism and become a monk or devote 
his life to mission work in his own church. The pendulum 
swung far! 

In 1805 the names of twelve men were recorded on the 
Grand List of Litchfield, as Methodists. They were Noah 
Agard, Isaac Baldwin, Ebenezer Clark, Thos. F. Goss, Elisha 
Horton, (said to have been one of the "Boston Tea Party") 
Samuel Green, Jonathan Hitchcock, Roswell McNeill, Jona- 
than Rogers, Daniel Noyes, John Stone and Arthur Swan. 

The descendants of several of these men are traced to other 
towns and churches but only one has left a family representa- 
tive of his name, in Litchfield church — little Lucy Baldwin, 
great-groat-great grand-daughter of Isaac Baldwin 1st, of Mil- 
ton society. This list hints of the law concerning church 
rating. Until the ratification of the new Constitution of the 
State of Connecticut, Oct. 5th, 1818, Congregationalism was 
the established church and supported by the State, or com- 
pulsory "rates" which left all dissenters, Methodists and 
others, at great disadvantage. Unless specially, (and grudg- 
ingly) excused by the town, they must pay their church "rates" 
to the Calvinistic church which they did not attend, and 
shoulder a double burden by supporting their "Circuit Riders" 
from private gifts. Little money was in circulation any- 



34 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

where at that time, and the early Methodists wore usually 
from the poorest strata of society. No wonder that Wesley 
and others discouraged marriage among the "Itinerants", for 
how could a minister glean a support for a family! 

If such laws regarding the union of Church and State 
now seem unfair and oppressive, we may not censure, for Cal- 
vinism had fled to this wilderness country to establish a home 
for her church — and religious toleration as now understood, 
could nowhere be found in any land at that time. 

A staunch Methodist barber who lived in some town in 
the lower part of the State — the names and locality are now 
forgotten, dared to protest against such unjust taxation — his 
argument being that he should not be compelled to help sup- 
port a church which neither he nor his family ever attended, 
while his denomination received no public money! His peti- 
tion was refused and he was told that his non-attendance was 
no excuse. The church was open every Sunday and he w;ts 
free to attend if he wished. He paid his dues, and soon after 
the Congregational minister was astonished at receiving a 
large bill for shaving and hairdressing. This he returned, 
indignantly declaring that he owed no such amount. He 
had never employed the man, and he would not pay the bill. 
The barber coolly replied that the bill was all right. It made 
no difference whether the Parson had really been shaved bj 
him or not — the shop was always open and he might have 
availed himself of its privileges had he so wished ! That town 
recognized the significance of the argument and soon after 
abolished "church rates" from members of other denomina- 
tions! 

While Congregational pastors were paid a fixed salary 
from the town treasury, Methodist ministers were never voted 
a salary, simply took what the church was able to collect — 
"The Lord's money" — and no obligation to do more was ack- 
nowledged by parson or people. The "deficiency" at closo of 
Conference year was not considered a debt. The Bishop 
appointed a preacher to a circuit or charge. When he reached 
his new post the church called an official meeting and pro- 
ceeded to "make an estimate" as it was termed, what they 
thought they could raise — one year only at a time — appropriat- 
ing separate amounts for the various needs of the society for 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 35 

the coining twelve months. Incidental expenses — including 
lights and fuel for the church, repairs and house rent. Then 
came moving expenses, table expenses, support of minister, 
his wife and each child separately! Itinerants with large 
families were not sought after! A trace of this procedure 
is found on the early records of Litchfield Society. 

Until recently — perhaps even now — collection announce- 
ments are quite differently worded in the two churches, the 
Congregationalists asking for money for "the maintenance of 
public worship" — the Methodists "to support the gospel in our 
midst". 

The first public meetingplace of the Methodists of Litch- 
field township was the union church on Milton Green, "Old 
Yaller", as it was affectionately called by the very aged peo- 
ple of that village, because it had received an outside coat of 
violent yellow paint, Presbyterians, Episcopalians and Metho- 
dists taking turns Sunday by Sunday. This building was 
later drawn across the river — repainted, remodeled, and became 
the Congregational Church of today. 

About 1S02 the Episcopalians built a chapel which is 
still in use; and later, or perhaps about this time — the Metho- 
dists erected a meeting-house in Milton on the east side of 
the Bantam road. At what date the "Circuit Riders" began 
to hold services in "Old Yaller" or when they built their 
church, I have not been able to learn. During the union occu- 
pation the Methodists drew the largest congregations, often 
numbering 200 at their service. ^Vhen the church was 

abandoned, sometime between 1855 and 1865, it was sold to the 
nickle mine company for $50.00 and pulled down and drawn 
up towards Mt. Prospect to be made into a boarding house. 
It was necessary to obtain the signatures for the deed of four 
male members. There were but two families left in the 
society — those of Isaac Baldwin 2nd and Abraham TVadhams, 
and the papers had to be sent to California for Clark Bald- 
win's name! 

The Milton Meeting house, never painted, was built in 
accordance with early Methodist style — no spire or other 
architectural embellishments, only a cupola at west gable 
end over the two front doors. The high pulpit was between 
the two doors with altar rail and kneeling stool beneath. There 
were no pews, only benches of split logs with four sticks driven 



36 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

into augur holes in the corners for legs. A row of such seats 
was arranged around the entire outside of the room where 
"weaklings" who were unable to sit bolt upright in the center 
of the room during an entire service could rest their backs 
against the unplastered outside walls. This primitive furnish- 
ing was not unlike that of many other early churches. Even 
"Old Yaller" was little better equipped. The Gooseborough 
or Bradleyville meeting house, built at about this time, date 
now unknown, a little west of the '"lone pine tree" Hallock 
house on Mt. Tom road was still more plain — an unpainted 
building, with no cupola, standing gable to the street. But 
its foundation is said to have been a solid rock! After this 
was abandoned it was sold to Nelson Barnes and drawn on 
to the west side of Lake street, in our village, and is now the 
dwelling house of Michael Moraghan. 

As Isaac Baldwin 1st and Abraham Wadhams were largely 
instrumental in the building of Milton Methodist church so 
Uncle Tom Moore was the father of Gooseborough Society. The 
homes of these families had long been prayermeeting stations, 
and their houses so truly free to Itinerants and other traveling 
Methodists that, like other such stopping places through the 
country, they were called "Methodist Taverns". 

Before and after the "Great Revival" under Rev. Charles 
Chittenden, Lewis Gunn and Ira Abbott in 1835 and 1836 — 
which led to the founding of Litchfield Methodist Episcopal 
Society — there were frequent prayermeetings at the homes of 
Jacob Morse, Sr., and Mrs. Humphreyville in Northfield, the 
stone school house in Footville, and notably South Plain school 
house, Uncle John Stone's and Ben Moore's on Litchfield Hill 
and at Uncle Ebb Clark's, Uncle Ross Scoville's and a Bassett 
family at East Litchfield. The Agard house, on the east slope 
of Plumb Hill was a specially attractive meeting place, pos- 
sibly because of the unusual musical gifts of the family. So 
lusty was their singing that often they were distinctly heard 
on Town Hill a mile away! 

The present generation would find themselves in a strange 
community could they step back to the prayermeeting of a 
hundred years ago. Heaven and Hell were materially real, 
and God and the Devil were personally physically present! 
For, as Brother French said, "The Devil must have a real 
body for we read in the Bible that he shall be chained a 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 37 

thousand years, and how can you chain what hasn't got a 
body?" A devout old Methodist of those days used frequently 
to pray, "Oh Lord, wilt thou hamstring the Devil!" 

We are told that Aunt Ross Scoville was a saint, while 
Uncle Ross was an "off and on" Methodist — subject to frequent 
"backslidings" and "refreshings". He might have sung per- 
petually, 

"Lord revive us, Oh revive us, 
Lord revive thy work in me; 
Good Lord revive us, Oh revive us, 
All our help must come from Thee". 

Often, if there was special interest in religion felt in the 
community he would rise in meeting and say: — "Wall, I guess 
I must be mendin' up of my old harness. It's all wore out 
and to pieces, and I guess I'd bettor fix it up a leetle". 

In those days there were "Exhorters" among the laymen 
who traveled from place to place and helped in meetings as 
they were needed. We are told that one of the first to come to 
the eastern part of this town was Styles Preston from Har- 
winton. He was a power for good. Parson Coe from Win- 
sted was an Itinerant of great strength of character and devo- 
tion who often conducted meetings in this town. 

Tom and Ben Moore, Garwood Sanford, Milo Beach, Sr., 
and John Stone were able and willing leaders of school house 
and neighborhood prayermeetings all over town. All were 
good singers, and each talented in his own way. 

"Brother Hoyt", as he was called, was a crippled peddler, 
and happy, glowing Methodist. His lower limbs were para- 
lyzed, and he rode in a chair strapped onto a wagon. When 
he reached a place where he wished to stop over night (and 
he welcomed himself among all the Methodists for miles 
around) he would sometimes drive in front of the house and 
call the family to come and carry him in — chair and all — or 
he would tie on a leather apron, roll and hitch himself out 
onto the thills and to the ground and into the house almost as 
fast as one could walk — which would seem to have been a pre- 
ferable mode of entrance, for his host at least, as he was a 
large, fleshy man, would weigh two hundred or more! 



38 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

The families where he "put up" felt as blessed with his 
presence as the house of Obededom with the ark of the covenant! 
Wherever he stopped over Sunday he wanted a prayermeeting 
appointed for the evening, and these meetings he always led 
himself. 

The chorus of a favorite hymn was: 

It's good enough, it's good enough, 
I long to sing Hosannah; 
It's good enough, it's good enough, 
I long to sing Hosannah". 

Through this he would lustily roar, measuring the time 
with one palm on the other, and a cracking slap on the words 
"Hosannah" while the entire hymn would be ended with a 
rousing "Amen!" Another of "Brother Hoyt's" favorite 

hymns which was touchingly appropriate to his crippled state 
was "The Paralytic". 

"Review the palsied sinner's case 

Who sought for help in Jesus; 

His friends conveyed him to the place 

Where he might meet with Jesus. 
* * * 

Thus fainting souls by sin diseased, 
There's none can save but Jesus; 

With more than plague or palsy seized 
Oh! help them on to Jesus". 

It was not till after the "great revival" that the Methodists 
secured an abiding place in Litchfield village. Even then 
Elder Laban Clark, who was here at the dedication of the 
church and never approved of the enterprise, said oracularly: 
"A Methodist Church will never thrive on Litchfield Hill" — 
a prediction which in times of discouragement was remembered 
depressingly by the older members. 

Litchfield Society was formed August 23rd, 1836 and five 
trustees appointed — Benjamin Moore, William Scoville, Abiel 
Barber, George Bolles, and William R. Buell. August 25th 
they bought of Samuel Bolles the Meadow Street church build- 
ing lot, 3 by 5 rods, for $150.00 and the church was built the 
next year; William Scoville, William R. Buell and Abiel Bar- 
ber, building committee. William Stoddard and C. C. Buell 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 39 

were the carpenters. It was dedicated July 27th, 1837; Prof. 
Holdrich of Middletown preached and Elder Washburn 
delivered an address. The Society could have had a lot on 
South Street near the present St. Michael's. After long delib- 
eration, and with more humility than business sagacity, they 
decided that a side street was more suitable for their denomi- 
nation, so chose the Meadow Street lot! At that time there 
was not a house on the west side of the street to break the 
wind straight from "Big Pond" and Mount Tom, and the 
church lot was too small for horse sheds, so summer and win- 
ter, through sunshine and rain and snow, the farmers tied 
their horses to the fences opposite, where there was not a tree 
to shelter them. These animals could not have favored Metho- 
dism! 

Jacob Morse, Sr., gave the sills — huge timbers running 
the full length of the building. He cut them himself in win- 
ter and drew them in front of his house on sleds, and the next 
spring when needed he carted them over to town on two pairs 
of wheels. Charles C. Buell gave timber from woods on the 
Milton road. Four men, one or two from other churches, con- 
tributed work with men and teams to draw great split stones 
for underpinning from Gen. BuclFs farm — stones so large that 
one made a full load. Uncle Ben Moore made and gave the 
great brass latch and lock which is still on the Masonic Hall. 

The church was planned with a basement classroom, but 
that was found to be inexpedient on such wet soil so the front 
gallery was partitioned off for social gatherings. There was 
no means of heating this long narrow room and as there were 
then no windows in the front end of the church all the light 
and ventilation was through sashes in the two doors at the 
ends. The seats were rough slab benches. There the little 
band would gather on sultry summer noons or for week night 
meetings, glad in their poverty and zeal to own even this uncom- 
fortable shelter in which to shout their joys, tell their trials 
or strengthen themselves with prayer for open warfare with 
the devil. Hear them in this dungeon lustily singing: 

"The day has come, the joyful day, 

At last the day has come 
That saints and angels joy display 

O'er sinners coming home. 



40 LITCHFIELD BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

Chorus: 
They're coming home, they're coming home, 

Behold them coming home! 
They're coming home, 
They have come home 
Praise God, they're coming home". 

The church was heated by two great stoves at the west 
end with pipes that traversed the full length of the church 
just under the front of the gallery. With usually green wood 
for fuel and smoke carried such a distance by pipes on prac- 
tically one level a great amount of moisture collected and 
dripped through the joints. Slanting tin pails were hung 
here and there to catch the literal "drippings of the sanctu- 
ary" — not an unheard of arrangement in other churches. In 
my earliest recollection these were old, and discolored, and 
occasionally would rust through or overflow. When the 
church was repaired in 1S66 an additional precaution was 
taken. A tin trough was hung under the whole length of pipe 
and emptied into little porcelain lined kettles on each side! 

The floor was of wide, coarse boards and until 1866 no 
carpet excepting in the aisles and around the chancel. The 
pulpit, reached by a flight of stairs, was an uncouth, boxlike 
construction ; painted a dingy drab like the rest of the inside 
woodwork, and furnished with a pillowy drab morine cushion 
with frill around the edge on which rested the Bible and Hymn 
Book — and sometime, also, it softened the thud of the gesticu- 
lating preacher's fist! The plaster walls were at first undeco- 
rated. As time went on at the end of each wall seat was a 
round, brown head mark, and the high ceiling became cracked, 
sagged and a large piece fell. The pews or "slips" had high, 
straight backs and wooden doors that loudly clapped approval 
at the close of every service. The seat cushions were of vari- 
ous colors and quality according to the taste or ability of each 
separate holder — or there were none. There were no blinds 
at the windows. Green paper curtains, often tattered, tem- 
pered the light from the south windows. For years after 
the building of the church there was no regular communion 
set — a pitcher and glasses were all — then one of pewter was 
purchased which was used for many years. 



LITCHFIELD BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 41 

When the church was opened in the evening the galleries 
were left in obscure darkness, and the church below lighted 
with swinging brass lamps — one on each side of the room. 
These lamps were flat and set into a brass frame with three 
curved, outstretching arms to which were hooked brass chains 
connected with a small ornamental disk and ring above by 
which the whole arrangement was hung. On the pulpit were 
two standard brass lamps with heavy marble bases, tall stems 
surmounted by flat lamps with ground glass globes. These 
four lights were usually considered sufficient to illuminate 
the church, though there were here and there on the wall a 
few tin candle sockets or sconces, but these were seldom used. 
Occasionally the fifth, or class room lamp, was called into 
requisition and hung under the end gallery. This was a 
round brass lamp set into a harpshaped, brass frame a foot 
high. One candle in a tin candle sconce lighted (or darkened) 
the entry. 

There were high side galleries with two rows of seats, an 
arrangement calculated to attract the desired, careless world- 
lings who would not enter the main audience room. 

In front of the pulpit was a plain table for the com- 
munion set, and two chairs, and there was a kneeling stool 
around the altar rail. A seat extended all around the front 
of the pews — the "anxious seat" the "brethren" called it — a 
place where the "awakened" could sit in time of "revivals" — 
the "amen seat", the irreverent designated it — because so often 
occupied by the responding brothers and sisters in prayer- 
meeting! 

The furnishings of this church, meagre as they now seem, 
were far in advance of its two predecessors, or the old Baptist 
or union church on the Northfield road which this sect often 
occupied. 

The church was originally built with two chimneys, one 
at each back corner into which the stovepipes directly entered. 
When the class room was added later, these were replaced by 
one in the center and the pipes on each side passing through 
the partition into the new room made their way by an extra 
turn into the chimney. These formed a telephone connection 
between the rooms. During the Sunday noon class meeting 
the "Hallelujahs" and "Glories" brought to the waiting people 



42 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

in church and the Sunday School (after one was organized) 
a hint of the heat of the battle being waged by the elder broth- 
ers and sisters! 

The first addition — not more than half of its later dimen- 
sions of 1866 — was furnished with rough slab benches with no 
backs, which creaked and groaned every time one arose to 
speak or knelt in prayer, or even braced himself for a lusty 
response. There was a small pine table and one chair for the 
leader, and one window and the door on the south side fur- 
nished all the ventilation. It was heated by a box stove, and 
lighted by tallow candles and one hanging brass lamp. The 
candle sconces on the walls were only strips of tin perhaps a 
foot long by two or three inches in width. A hole near the 
upper end was slipped over a nail or hook and the lower part, 
two or three inches from the end, was bent forward at right 
angles and the edge again turned up and crimped forming a 
little dishlike shelf on top of which was soldered a ring of tin 
just the size to hold a candle. The candles were supplied by 
members occasionally carrying one from home. I remember 
my father often going to the candlebox just before leaving for 
an evening service and wrapping a candle in paper would 
tuck it into his pocket. 

September 10th, 1849, an "Official Meeting" was held which 
pitifully betrays the poverty of the Society. It was of such 
grave importance that there w T as a prayer at both ends — 
while all other such meetings record only the opening prayer. 
We read: "Voted, that we make an effort to raise funds suf- 
ficient to paint the church and put a window in the class 
room. 

"Committee appointed to solicit funds: Mathew Morse, E. 
O. Barber, G. W. Thompson". 

The entire bill was $45.66!! 

January 20th, 1851, another entry reads: "Voted to accept 
subscription and build an addition to the church. Voted that 
said addition be 16 by 20 ft. Voted that Committee be empow- 
ered to remove the partition in gallery". 

The expense was $155.27. 

This was done to make a choir loft for James Trowbridge's 
famous Singing School Choir wdiich made the church ring 
with Varina, Creation, Lyons and Majesty, or the quaint fugue 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 43 

tunes Turner and Green Street as sung from the old Devo- 
tional Harmonist. 

In 1866 the church and class room were thoroughly made 
over; painted, carpeted, blinds added, a larger, more suitable 
window put in the front end, a new, lower pulpit, and the slips 
with doors made way for open, cushioned seats. Total cost 
$2784.00. 

In 1843 the church was nearly rent asunder by the Millerite 
excitement. Many of its strongest, most valuable leaders, in- 
cluding Rev. Lewis Gunn of Washington, were carried away 
by the new doctrines. It has been said that had it not been 
for the discretion and strength of will of Rev. David Marks, 
then the minister in charge, who ably stemmed the tide, the 
church would probably have been wiped out. 

Mr. Gunn visited Miss Julia Hayden, housekeeper for 
Miss Sarah Pierce — a bright woman and ardent Methodist — 
and urged her to be immersed and join the Millerites. "Xo" 
she said, "I read in my Bible about one Lord, one faith and one 
baptism. I am afraid if I receive another baptism I should 
soon want another faith — and then — another Lord!" 

Methodism in Litchfield was unpopular, especially with 
the higher classes. When the church was raised the sills 
were placed the first day. Timber was then abundant, and the 
frame was so heavy, the Society so small and opposition to 
the cause so decided that there could not be found enough 
willing men to lift into place the weighty timbers of the tewer 
and upper floor. There the men stood and waited well into 
the second day! Then Capt. Ambrose Norton, a Congrega- 
tionalist, hearing the cause of the delay, and pitying the poor 
deluded fanatics, told the men of his carriage shop to quit 
work and go down and help raise the church! Without this 
concession the church could not have been raised that day. 

When word came to "Parson Hickok" of the Congrega- 
tional church that a Methodist prayer meeting was to be held 
somewhere in the village he would don his cocked hat, and 
taking his gold headed cane go from house to house warning 
his parishioners to keep away from such irregular services. 

The rougher element of young people, feeling protected 
by the known opposition of their elders, often made distur- 
bance in meetings. A package of gunpowder was thrown into 



44 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

the stove, one day. Garwood Sanford saw it in time to snatch 
it out before it exploded and wrecked the church. 

Early one Sunday morning some boys hid a litter of young 
pigs in the high pulpit of the Milton Methodist church. When 
the Circuit Rider climbed the stairs and opened the pulpit 
door there was a stampede of pigs like that of Bible times — 
to the astonishment and disconcertion of the assembled con- 
gregation! 

While the Methodists were using the town room for meet- 
ings Avhen their church was building there was much opposi- 
tion to the excitement of the revival services, and many said 
that the Methodists should not bo allowed to use the town's 
property. One Sunday Parson Chittenden arrived to find its 
door locked against him. He exclaimed: "Though you shut 
me out of the building yet I will preach my sermon to these 
people. I will mount these steps and take for my text 'The 
foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests; but the 
Son of man hath not where to lay his head.' " After that ser- 
mon the door was open to him! 

At times much skill was required to manage the turbu- 
lent elements of such crowded, excited meetings. Four Tith- 
ingmen were appointed as late as April 24th, 1847 and I think 
I have seen a list of a much later date. They surely were 
needed. 

Persecution advertised the sect and drew the members to- 
gether. There was then a kinship of belief and a deep signfi- 
cance in the terms "Brother" and "Sister" which is now lack- 
ing. True there was an undue glorying in tribulation which 
came down to our early days — a compensation for loss of 
social standing when uniting with the Methodists. An oft 
repeated and dearly loved text with these people was: — 
"Blessed are ye, when men shall say all mlanner of evil against 
you falsely for my sake." Can we wonder that sometimes too 
little emphasis was placed on the word falsely? 

Their hymns were full of this spirit: 

"When I set out for glory 
I left the world behind, 
Determined for a city 
That's out of sight to find, 
I left my worldly honor, 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 45 

I left my worldly fame, 
I left my young companions, 
And with tliem my good name. 

Chorus : 
And to glory I will go, 
And to glory I will go, 
I'll go, I'll go, 
And to glory I will go". 

As Methodism was unpopular some of the members be- 
came sensitive regarding public opinion of sermons and ser- 
vices. One old member used to find comfort in the words of 
a Methodist writer: — "It was not by foolish preaching that 
the world was to be converted. Were that the case it would 
have been saved long ago. But it was by the foolishness of 
preaching." 

Sometime in 1849 or 1850 Eev. Joseph Henson advertised 
to preach a temperance sermon in the Methodist church. A 
crowd gathered, and some of the older members were "tried" 
when he announced for his text a mutilated part of the eighth 
verse of the third chapter of first John. The verse reads, 
"For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he 
might destroy the works of the devil." He used only the last 
clause changed into the imperative mood, "Destroy the works 
of the devil." He described Sampson's victory, (Judges xv, 
15-) David's exploit (I Sam: xvii) and Shamgars conquest 
(Judges iii, 31) then concluded his sermon by exhorting his 
hearers to take Sampson's jawbone of the ass, David's sling 
and Shamgars ox goad and go at the rumsellers! Not bad 
advice after all. 

Dr. Lyman Beecher used to say that sermons should have 
horns that the people could grasp and hold on by. There were 
plenty of such horny protuberances on sermons, prayers and 
hymns of the early Methodistic days. Phrasings that were 
literal and direct and are still remembered. No mistaking 
the desired destination of one prayer. Zadok Dayton, a 
shiftless young carpenter of South Mill Boad, had quarreled 
with his wife's father so he prayed at Burlington Campmeet- 
ing for "His ungodly father-in-law Bill Gibbs, who lives down 
below the Sucker Brook." 



46 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

An earnest convert who long ago did business in Litch- 
field while exhorting his old companions of a neighboring 
town to repent said: — "I guess when you have been in Hell 
two or three months you will begin to think of your future 
state!" 

Giving and education were the battle cries of the learned 
leaders of this sect which had been sifted from the ranks of 
the poor and ignorant of England and America. All converts 
were urged to buy one or two books besides their Bibles. The 
Hymn Book was their first choice and the few other books 
owned by the members of classes were lent far and near. 

About the time of the founding of the Methodist Society 
of Litchfield a young carpenter apprentice was earning $40.00 
a year, of which $5.00 was set apart for the church. Later, 
when he could earn a trifle more he bought a set of Clark's 
Commentaries — six volumes — and a Webster's Unabridged 
Dictionary. These books were packed in a little hair cov- 
ered trunk and with his kit of tools were carried from place 
to place where he was called to work. Through them he 
learned to know and revere the doctrines of his church as 
explained by Dr. Adam Clark and "woe be" to any Methodist 
layman or preacher who interpreted a Bible text in antagon- 
ism to the tenets of Dr. James Armineus! 

Colporters with packs of Methodist reading matter traveled 
over their circuits, (always entertained by its members) urg- 
ing the people to buy books. Bev. Charles Chittenden, in old 
age, took up this business and within my memory has spent 
nights at our house when on such tours. 

•We have no time to mention several of the unique services 
of the early Methodists which were strongly instrumental in 
their rapid development — the quarterly meeting love feast, 
protracted meetings and revival services — the week-long camp 
meetings — nor to note the great influence of the new singing 
the spirited tunes and theology freighted hymns which were 
taught the people by master hymn writers, Charles and John 
Wesley — all of which is of intense interest to students of 
early church life. 

Week-long camp meetings started in Kentucky and Ten- 
nessee by two brothers — one a Presbyterian and the other a 
Methodist in 1799 — spread like wildfire though the country 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 47 

and soon were specially claimed by the Methodists. They were 
a yearly festival, a harvest of souls. Many from this church 
attended these gatherings at Stepney, Burlington, Milford, 
etc. Perhaps more than any other of the "troopings" pecu- 
liar to early Methodism the camp meeting emphasized the 
brotherhood of this clannish sect. The last morning was al- 
ways a "processional'' or "band meeting" — a most impressive 
service. The leader singing some trumpet call hymn would 
step down from the pulpit and begin a march around the 
encampment and another would follow till every man and 
woman present was in the march — like the Israelites round 
about Jericho. All the while singing hymn after hymn, "Am 
I a soldier of the cross", "Come ye that love the Lord," "Arise 
my soul, arise," "Blow ye the trumpet, blow," "Come let us 
anew our journey pursue", etc., etc. Then the leader would 
step to one side still singing, stand and grasp the hand of 
the next in line — and the next — till he had shaken hands 
with all the company. Back of him each other one would 
stand and do the same till all had grasped the hand of every 
one present, and the entire encampment was "standing at 
arms." Then followed an earnest prayer and the benediction 
and the meeting was closed. 

"Hallelujah they cry, 

To the King of the sky 

To the great everlasting I am; 

To the Lamb that was slain, 

And that liveth again. 

Hallelujah to God and the Lamb". 

Were the old brothers and sisters here who used to sing 
at those yearly processionals, 

"Now here's my heart and here's my hand 
To meet you in that heavenly land," 

they might tell us that the branches of the treetops still 
whisper to them the words of the parting hymn of long ago: — 

"My friends I bid you all adieu, 
I leave you in God's care; 
And if I here no more see you, 
Go on, I'll meet you there. 



48 LITCHFIELD BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

Millions of years around may roll, 

Our song will still go on, 

To praise the Father and the Son, 

And Spirit, Three in One. 

When we've been there ten thousand years, 

Bright shining as the sun, 

We've no less days to sing God's praise, 

Than when we first began". 

And now the old times with their many quaint religious 
customs have passed. One chapter of Litchfield Methodism 
is closed! 

The antiquated Meadow Street Meeting House is to be 
abandoned — turned over to the world. A new, more commodi- 
ous, much needed church is being built. The younger members 
gladly anticipate its occupancy. There are now left but a 
very few aged members who might have answered the roll 
call at the dedication of the old church, 48 years before, and 
they well may sadly crone — 

"My company before is gone 
And I am left here all alone". 
The last sermon preached in the old church was delivered 
by a former pastor, • Eev. James Taylor, Sunday evening, 
July 26th, 1885. Had we listened then methinks we might 
have heard this little remnant of a former, strange, heroic 
church, still shouting and singing in the quavering voices of 
age their belief in a sure, abiding home — their hope voiced 
in John Wesley's hymn which they had loved from youth: — 

"There is my house and portion fair; 

My treasure and my heart are there, 

And my abiding home; 

For me my elder brethren stay, 

And angels beckon me away 

And Jesus bids me come. 

I come, thy servant, Lord, replies; 
I come, to meet thee in the skies, 
And claim my heavenly rest! 
Soon will the pilgrim's journey end; 
Then, O my Saviour, Brother, Friend 
Receive me to thy breast". 




- 



THE LITCHFIELD LAW SCHOOL. 

Address by Former Governor Simeon E. Baldwin, LL.D. 
The Playhouse, August 1, 1920. 

This day is given by an ancient town to the consideration 
of what she has done, during the past two centuries, for the 
advancement here of Religion and Education. 

Religion has undoubtedly taken a forward step, in giving 
less weight than they formerly received to rules of doctrinal 
theology. 

Public education has been extended, in unison with all 
the other towns of Connecticut; but it is in the foundation 
and support of Private Schools that Litchfield has won her 
great distinction. There she seized the position of a pioneer. 
To her ancient Law School, more than to any other single 
source, is due the form and symmetry and orderly develop- 
ment of American Law. 

The Litchfield Law School was one of the first fruits of 
the American Revolution. That cut us clear of English law, 
except so far as we might voluntarily adopt it. But what 
authority was to say how far we had adopted or should adopt 
it? There had been, so long as we remained subject to King 
George, a large body of English law, of which we had both 
the benefit and the burden. Very little of it was in statutory 
form. It was mostly the result and expression of long estab- 
lished custom. It had never been put in the shape of an offi- 
cial code. What was its status in American courts? 

Bear in mind that the United States until 1789 were very 
loosely bound together. Each was sovereign and independent.* 
Each had its own system of legal rights and legal procedure. 
Until the Revolution there had been a right in the Crown to 
set aside colonial statutes and the judgments of colonial courts. 
It was a prerogative of the "King in Council". In fact the 
Council, that is the Privy Council, at first exercised the power 
at meetings at which the King was seldom present, and later 
committed it to a standing committee of their number, styled 
the "Lords of Trade and Plantations". Thev had an official 



*Gen. Stat, of Conn-, Rev. of 1918, Sect. 2201. 



50 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

counsel of their own, and were also entitled to ask the advice 
of the Attorney General and Solicitor General. 

This appellate power was very distasteful to the American 
colonists, but it tended strongly to give uniformity to their 
law, and to encourage a sentiment of common nationality. 
The Revolution withdrew this moderating and unifying force 
at the same time that it secured an independence of each col- 
ony or State in legislating on all subjects for itself. 

Hero were then thirteen governments, each making or 
recognizing certain rules of conduct, called law, and no two 
adopting rules that were identically the same. 

All this brought confusion at the expense of order. Trade 
between the States was hindered. What was lawful in one 
might be criminal in another. The English common law was 
nowhere recognized as a universal rule. Some of it was 
necessarily unfitted for the new conditions of American society.* 
None of it was officially recorded or published. 

Here was a great opportunity for a great leader. Who 
should bring legal order to replace legal chaos? The hour 
had come. Where w r as the man to meet its call? 

Legal history shows that codes are mainly the work of pri- 
vate individual writers. These writers begin what a legis- 
lature ultimately adopts. 

In 1784, a year after the close of the Revolution and 
five years before the Constitution of the United States 
went into force, this work of private authorship, as a pre. 
liminary to public recognition, was begun on Litchfield 
Hill. It was then that Tapping Reeve, a graduate of 

Princeton of the Class of 1763, and afterwards tutor there 
for three years, took under his charge the) first students 
who were to head the list of the graduates of the Litch- 
field Law School. He was then forty years old; an ardent 
and impetuous son of sturdy New England Stock. His 
father** a Congregational minister in Vermont, lived to be a 
hundred and four years old. The son, though not destined 
for such extreme longevity, had a strong constitution both of 
mind and body. He was of the kind who do their life's work 



*A different vieic is presented in Fiskc's Critical Period of 

American History, p. 69. 
**Rer. Abncr Reeve. 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 51 

with dash and feeling, — who wear out, but never rust out. 
After a quarter of a century of growing usefulness, his voice 
wore out, under the strain of daily lectures, but he was still 
able to give them in a shrill whisper until 1820, when he finally 
retired, at the age of seventy-nine, dying three years later. 

Associated with him in the work of instruction after 1798 
was James Gould, a man of even greater mark, who was 
graduated from Yale College in 1791, and conducted the School 
alone from 1820 to 1833, when it passed out of existence. It 
had always been conducted as a purely private enterprise. It 
had never had or wanted the legal status of a corporation. 

When it was started in 1784 it was a pioneer in an untrod- 
den field. 

William and Mary College, in Virginia, had indeed estab- 
lished a Professorship of Law during the Revolutionary War, 
in 1779. George Wythe was the first Professor, and John 
Marshall, the great Chief Justice, one of its first pupils. But 
here law was taught in a college, as one of the several branches 
of a liberal education; not as a profession to be studied as a 
preparation for the bar. Bushrod Washington, afterwards 
an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United 
States, took his bachelor's degree at William and Mary Col- 
lege in 1778, but far from deeming the general education 
received there as a sufficient legal education, went, to secure 
that, into the office of James Wilson, in Philadelphia. 

Prior to the Revolutionary war Americans desiring to enter 
the bar seldom received what can fairly be called a thorough 
education for it. A very few went to England and studied 
in London at the Inns of Court;* but even there they learned 
little except from listening to proceedings in court. Almost 
all our lawyers picked up such knowledge as they might have, 
in the offices of active practitioners, and in reading such legal 
treatises as they might recommend. A busy lawyer had little 
time to spare for questioning such pupils as he might receive 
into his office; and questioning by those who were not busy 
was generally of little worth. 

There were always a few, however, who both were legal 
scholars, and took a fatherly interest in any young man so 
committed to their care. Indeed, the lawyer of those days 
*Not over 150 in all. Am. Hist. Revieiv, Vol. XXV, p. 680. 



52 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

had often read more of, Roman law, the so-called law of 
Nature, and international law, than is now commonly taught, 
either in or out of our Law Schools. 

Mr. Justice Wilson was one of the more scholarly mem- 
bers of the American bar who, during the Revolutionary era, 
received law students into their offices, supervised their course 
of reading, and stood ready to explain to them,, when time 
served, any difficulties encountered in the law books of the day. 
For such instruction a fee was charged, often amounting in 
the cities to as much as $100. 

It was thus that the office of Judge Reeve had come 
to be frequented by young men reading for the bar, in the 
decade during which our independence was attained. He com- 
menced the practice of his profession here in 1772, and one of 
the first who studied under his eye was his brilliant brother- 
in-law, Aaron Burr, after whom he named his only son, born 
in 1790. 

Whatever else Burr learned at Litchfield, it is safe to 
say that it did not include the cynical definition of law which 
he gave in later life — "Law is whatever is confidently asserted 
and plausibly maintained". The loose morality indicated by 
such an expression characterized far too many of the legal 
fraternity in the United States as the Revolution approached 
and in the years that immediately followed it. 

A letter from Theodore Sedgwick of Massachusetts, after- 
wards United States Senator and an Associate Justice of the 
Supreme Judicial Court, to Aaron Burr, written a few weeks 
after the Declaration of Independence, described the state of 
society there, at that time thus: 

"Amidst the confusion which was at once the cause and 
consequence of a demolition of Government, men's minds as 
well as actions became regardless of all legal restraint. All 
power reverted into the hands of the people, who were deter- 
mined that every one should be convinced that the People 
were the fountain of all honor. The first thing they did was 
to withdraw all confidence from every one who had ever had 
any connection with Government, the necessity of which was 
even called in question. Lawyers were universally almost 
represented as the pest of society." * 
*Proceedings of the Am. Antiquarian Society, Vol. XXIX, 

N. 8., p. 72. 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 53 

Anarchy was thus favored by some Americans, in the 
days of the Revolution, as a political principle. 

Under such circumstances, the bar became an unpopular 
institution. In 1769, a New York law student, destined to 
rise to great prominence in the profession, wrote to a friend 
that there was "an almost universal clamor against the law 
and its practitioners".* 

Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England was 
then in course of publication, and soon attained a wide circu- 
lation in America. They tended to foster monarchical senti- 
ment, and to place law on the footing of an act of sovereign 
authority, rather than as expressive of general public consent. 
It was a block in the way of American independence. 

Mr. Justice Wilson, in his law lectures at the University 
of Pennsylvania, in 1790, cautioned the students there against 
being led astray by Blackstone's sophisms ,** and deplored the 
lack in this country of any opportunity for acquiring a com- 
plete legal education, both in generals and particulars. 

"That a law education", he said, "is necessary for gentle- 
men intended for the profession of the law, it would be as 
ridiculous to prove as to deny. In all other countries, public 
institutions bear a standing testimony to this truth. Ought 
this to be the only country without them?"*** 

His own lectures, at this period, were given as a proper 
part of a general liberal education. In the same spirit, 
President Stiles had introduced at Yale, in 1789, the study 
by the College Seniors of Montesquieu on the Spirit of the 
Laws; following in this the lead of Princeton; and adding in 
1793, as a regular text book, Vattel on the Laws of Nature and 
Nations.**** 

The Litchfield Law School, from the first, gave prominence 
to the literary side of the legal profession, and its orderly 
development. Judges Reeve and Gould did not consider that 
those whom they helped to educate would lose, by entering it, 
their right to deem themselves citizens of the republic of 
letters. 



*Life of Peter Van Schaick, p. 8. 

**Wilso7i's Works, Vol I, p. 170. 

***Ibid., Vol. I, p. 13. 

****Stiles' Literary Diary, Vol. Ill, pp. 346, 497. 



54 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

It is, indeed, a profession with a living and growing litera- 
ture of its own. This is officially expressed in the opinions 
of the highest courts, as found in our judicial reports, the first 
of which was published in Litchfield in 17S9. Their study 
must be approached with the spirit of a scholar. 

There is a constant tendency inherent in every body of 
national jurisprudence, towards irregularity of development. 
Its growth or its decay comes in spots. It is then for legal 
authorship to endeavor to restore its symmetry. 

Judge Reeve accomplished much in this direction. One 
of his successors on the bench, Chief Justice Church, has thus 
characterized Reeve's view of his profession: 

"He loved the law as a science, and studied it philosophic- 
ally. He considered it as the practical application of religi- 
ous principle to the business affairs of life. He wished to 
reduce it to a certain, symmetrical system of moral truth. He 
did not trust to the inspiration of genius for eminence, but to 
the results of profound and constant study". 

Reeve addressed himself to the feelings of those to whom 
he spoke, more than his associate, Judge Gould, did or could. 
This characterized both his arguments at the bar and his 
lectures from the desk. Probably he never used this power 
more effectively than in the Elizabeth Freeman case, in Massa- 
chusetts, where he was associated with Theodore Sedgwick. 
She had been born a slave, and claimed her freedom from 
her former master under the declaration in the Constitution of 
the State, adopted in 1780, that "All men are born free and 
equal". In 1783 Sedgwick and Reeve obtained a favorable 
decision from the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. 
Such a question, the answer to which involved discussion of 
so vital a point in American constitutional law, gave Reeve 
a great opportunity to appeal both to the minds and hearts 
of those who heard him, and his arguments made a profound 
impression. 

Gould, as a law lecturer, gave great care to orderly state- 
ment, and logical arrangement. His work on Pleading in 
Civil Actions proceeds, step by step, from one proposition to 
another, like a tr«atise on geometry. Chief Justice Chmrch 
gives us this sketch of his mental traits and tastes: 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 55 

"Judge Gould was a critical scholar, and always read 
with his pen in his hand, whether Law books or books of 
fiction or fancy, for which he indulged a passion. In the more 
abstruse subjects of the law, he was more learned than Judge 
Reeve, and, as a lecturer, more lucid and methodical. The 
Common Law he had searched to the bottom, and he knew it 
all — its principles, and the reasons from which they were 
drawn. As an advocate, he was not a man of impassioned 
eloquence, but clear and logical, employing language eloquent 
and chaste. He indulged in no wit, and seldom excited a 
laugh, but was very sure to carry a listener along with him 
to his conclusions'".* 

During the most flourishing years of the Litchfield Law 
School, Lyman Beecher, — a great preacher, and the father of 
a greater one, — was pastor of the Litchfield Congregational 
Church, and Judge Reeve was one of his chief counselors and 
supports. Dr. Beecher organized a special class of law 
students, meeting at his house, to which he lectured on theology 
one evening in the week.** This helped to fortify their grow- 
ing acquaintance with what in that day no one was afraid 
to name the Laws of Nature. This branch of law was taught 
at Litchfield with some care. The great aim of the School was 
to acquaint the student with legal principles in such an order 
of arrangement, and with such reference to their historical 
development, as would best impress them permanently upon 
his mind. Cases were used mainly to support or illustrate 
antecedent propositions. They were regarded less as sources 
of law than as channels of law. 

The great thing in legal education is to put the student in 
possession of clear general notions as to the whole field of 
law and the manner in which any part of it is related to the 
rest. To give that the Litchfield Law School sought to set 
before each incoming class the outlines of law in general, sub- 
stantive and adjective, in orderly and scientific arrangement. 

Law is both a science and an art, and it is no less science 
because it wears this double face. It was in the spirit of 
full recognition of its entire nature that it was taught here 
for forty years. As Chief Justice Church said of the point 

*Bench and Bar of Litchfield County, p. 28. 

** Autobiography of Lyman Beecher, Vol. I, pp. 225, 373. 



56 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

of view from which Reeve regarded it: to him Law was, in 
essence, a system of moral truth, involving the practical appli- 
cation of religious principle to the business affairs of life. 
Lord Erskine had voiced the same conception when he said 
tli at the principles of legal science were "founded in the 
charities of religion, in the philosophy of Nature, in the truths 
of history, and in the experience of common life". These two 
men were idealists, as every law teacher should be. An ideal, 
some one has said, is Truth at a distance. The truth is 
found if it is patiently sought for, though it may take one far 
a field. He attains the knowledge of it, as Sophocles declared, 
who sees things steadily and sees them whole. 

Any enterprise, the success or maintenance of which 
depends on the personal qualities of a single man, must die 
with him, unless indeed it dies before him. The Litchfield 
Law School died in 1833, when Judge Gould's health became 
seriously impaired and he was no longer able to stand the 
strain of daily lectures. 

Had it been thrown into the form of a corporation, 
the ultimate result must have been the same. A sparsely 
settled farming town could not expect to remain permanently 
the seat of a large professional school, which would attract 
students from a wide range of States. Such a School can 
only thrive as part of a University. 

It had had a long and useful life. Among those (con- 
siderably over a thousand in number) who acquired their pro- 
fession there were one of the most distinguished Vice Presi- 
dents of the United States; three Justices of the Supreme 
Court of the United States (Henry Baldwin, Levi Woodbury 
and Ward E. Hunt); seventeen Uuited States Senators; ten 
Governors of States; and seven foreign ministers. 

The regular courses of instruction occupied a year and 
a half. There was a daily lecture of an hour and a half, and 
a weekly examination on them.* A Law School debating 
society met one evening a week, and there was also a weekly 
moot court, presided over by one of the Professors. 

The exercises of the Law School were conducted first in 
a one-story building of the "old red school house" type, which 



*Bench and Bar of Litchfield County, pp. 182, 187, 194, 214. 



LITCHFIELD BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 57 

is still standing, erected by Judge Keeve; and next in another 
of the same kind,, put up by Judge Gould.* 

In 1801, Yale had established a Professorship of Law, the 
incumbent of which gave a few lectures to the Senior Class, 
and in 1824, she set up a regular law department. 

Some years earlier Harvard had taken similar steps, and 
in 1829 a successful law teacher, who, with one associate, had 
gathered about him, in Northampton, so considerable a class 
of law students as to give his office the name of the Northamp- 
ton Law School,** accepted an invitation to one of the two 
chairs of Law then existing at Cambridge, Mr. Justice Story 
occupying the other. Some funds were created for the founda- 
tion of that institution, and the Litchfield Law School, even 
had Judge Gould's health been unimpaired, could not have 
long survived in the face of such accumulated competition. 

It was a great service to the American people that this 
School rendered so early and so long. The welfare of a people 
depends on an intelligent, well educated and free-speaking bar. 
The American bar, in 1784, were re-constituting the law of the 
United States. They were creating one new kind of it — Con- 
stitutional law. They were creating from day to day, by the 
decisions of the courts, a common law for the Union. Within 
the next five years the first volume of American law reports 
was published. There were no text-books in 1784, stating the 
law obtaining in the United States or any part of it. They 
were to be made. The Litchfield Law School made some of 
them out of the lectures delivered before it. 

Because of its practical, as well as its theoretical side, law 
has a peculiar interest to thoughtful men. An applied science 
gives those who follow it the relief which always comes to a 
thinker when he is doing something, besides thinking. It 
brings him more satisfaction than most other studies can. 
One mode of exercising the mind supplements and illustrates 
another mode. Robert Louis Stevenson once said: "To be 
wholly devoted to some intellectual exercise is to have suc- 
ceeded in life; and perhaps only in law and the higher mathe- 
matics may this devotion be maintained, suffice to itself with- 



*Cuts of these buildings are contained in Bench and Bar, pp. 

179, 192-195. 
**The College Book, p. 42. 



58 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

out re-action, and find continual reward, without excitement". 
This warm encomium of law holds up a high ideal. Part of a 
lawyer's life is to be given to gaining knowledge and intel- 
lectual strength, and part to the service of his fellow man. 
Both call for devotion. It was in full sympathy with that 
spirit, and all that it implies, that Reeve and Gould conducted 
the Litchfield Law School. Lord Morley has said that the 
true force of all oratory is the momentum of the orator's his- 
tory, personality, and purpose. The true force of the teaching 
given at that Law School was the momentum of the history, 
personality, and purpose of those two men. 




< 
a 
u 



H 



fa 



SARAH PIERCE: PIONEER IX WOMAN'S 
HIGHER EDUCATION. 

Address by Mrs. George Maynard Minor. 

(President General of the National Society of the Daughters 
of the American Revolution.) 

The Playhouse, August 1, 1920. 

Litchfield may view her educational past with justifiable 
pride. The impressive story of the Litchfield Law School, 
pioneer of its kind in America, is a proud historic background 
for any community. Litchfield has done better than be a 
''mother of kings"; she has been a mother of judges and chief 
justices, governors and statesmen, great ministers and emi- 
nent jurists. Her pioneer law school made her an educational 
center which was the equal, if not the superior, of any 
American university town of that day. But she did not 
stop there in her pioneering. An even greater achievement 
stands on her record books — an achievement that deserves to 
be better known than it is. This was the establishment of 
another pioneer school which it took courage and vision in 
those days to promote. I refer to the pioneer school for the 
higher education of women known as the "Litchfield Female 
Academy". 

One expects men to become eminent jurists and states- 
men if they are able. But in the days of the Litchfield Law 
School no one expected women to be educated. They might 
acquire every feminine accomplishment that they wished — 
they might draw maps, work bead bags, strum a little on 
piano or spinnet, draw terrible creations with pencil and 
paint brush, but an education beyond the three R's and a 
little geography, never! It was unheard of; it was indeli- 
cate; it was unsexing and dangerous in the extreme. But 
there were men and women of vision in the Litchfield of those 
days. Judge Reeve found his counterpart in a woman. The 
name of Sarah Pierce, the pioneer of woman's higher educa- 



60 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

cation, should be linked with that of Tapping Reeve for all 
time. 

It is quite fitting that the old Law School building where 
the law students used to listen to lectures, should now be 
the home of a woman's handicraft shop, where feminine handi- 
work replaces the calf-skin volumes of earlier days. 

For did not the law students and Miss Pierce's school 
girls make life a wide-awake affair in old Litchfield a hundred 
years ago? This feminine invasion of the home of law and 
jurisprudence is but a symbol of woman's entrance into the 
fields, not only of law, but of science and politics and all 
departments of the world's activities; a symbol, too, of her 
gradual emancipation from legal disabilities of every kind. 
That Yale has only recently fallen into line with other col- 
leges and conferred the degree of doctor of laws upon a 
woman shows how slowly the world has followed in the 
pioneer pathway blazed by Judge Tapping Reeve and Sarah 
Pierce. 

Judge Reeve was the first in this country to recognize 
the legal standing of women, he was the first to advocate 
their having equal rights with men. He believed in their 
equal education. 

From the time when Miss Pierce opened her school in 
1792 for the higher education of women with one pupil in 
her own dining room, he was its constant patron and friend. 

In 1798 he was one on a list of subscribers to a fund for 
erecting the first building for the school, which was then 
named the "Female Academy". It stood just south of the 
Congregational parsonage, on what is now the TFnaerwoort 
property. Henry Ward Beecher, born in Litchfield in June 
1813, was prepared for college by Miss Pierce. He thus 
speaks of these two schools: 

"The Law School of Judges Reeve and Gould and the young 
ladies' school of the Misses Pierce made it (Litchfield) an 
educational center scarcely second in the breadth of its influ- 
ence to any in the land, and attracted a class of residents 
of high social position''. 

In 1856 he again writes that these schools "were in their 
day two very memorable institutions, and though since sup- 
plied by others on a larger scale, there are few that will have 
performed so much, if we take into account the earliness of 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 61 

the times and the fact that they were pioneers and parents 
of those that have supplanted them". 

"Pioneers and parents". As such we do them honor toda> 
in this Bi-Centennial celebration; in every woman's college 
that has since sprung up and is appealing for funds to carry 
on, we see a direct descendant of Sarah Pierce's 'Female 
Academy". 

Hollister, when speaking in his "History of Connecticut" 
of the vast influence in law and politics which spread over 
the country from the brilliant minds educated at the Law 
(School says: 

"The influence of these sages upon the laws of the country 
was almost rivalled by the efforts of Miss Sarah Pierce in 
another department of learning. This lady opened a school 
for the instruction of females in the year 1792 while the Law 
School was in successful operation, and continued it under her 
own superintendence for nearly forty years. During this 
time she educated between fifteen hundred and two thousand 
young ladies. (John P. Brace, Miss Pierce's nephew, says 
that it was three thousand.) This school was for a long 
period the most celebrated in the United States and brought 
together a large number of the most gifted and beautiful 
women of the continent". 

At the Centennial Celebration of the County of Litchfield 
in August, 1851, the Hon. Samuel Church, Chief Justice of 
Connecticut, made an address in which he thus describes Miss 
Pierce's School: 

"A new tone to female education was given by the estab- 
lishment of a Female Seminary for the instruction of females 
in this village, by Miss Sarah Pierce in 1792. This was an 
untried experiment. Hitherto, the education of young ladies 
with few exceptions had been neglected. The district school 
had limited their course of studies. Miss Pierce saw and 
regretted this, and devoted all of her active life to the mental 
and moral culture of her sex. The experiment succeeded 
entirely. This Academy soon became the resort of young 
ladies from all portions of the country— from the cities and 
the towns. Then the country was preferred as most suitable 
for female improvement, away from the frivolities and 
dissipation of fashionable life. Now a different, not a better 



62 LITCHFIELD BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

practice prevails. Many of the grandmothers and mothers 
of the present generation were educated as well for genteel 
as for useful life, in this school, and its influence upon female 
character and accomplishments was great and extensive". 

In all these quotations one is continually reminded of a 
certain definition of woman found in an eighteenth century 
dictionary. It is as follows: "Woman, the female of man. 
See man". 

Sarah Pierce belongs not alone to Litchfield, but to the 
nation. This is my chief apology for standing here today as 
an outsider telling Litchfield about her own past. 

I have read with absorbing interest the "Chronicles" of 
this famous school compiled by your townswoman Mrs. Van- 
derpoel, and it would seem as if the last word had been said. 

Miss Pierce and her school girls live again in those pages 
of letters and diaries and personal reminiscences. Neverthe- 
less, in such a subject, the last word cannot be repeated too 
often, therefore this paper is largely repetition and owes most 
of its facts to that delightful volume. 

Sarah Pierce was the daughter of John Pierce and Mary 
Paterson, who probably lived in Farmington with the tatter's 
father, Major Paterson, a distinguished colonial officer, and 
moved from there to Litchfield about 1751. The Litchfield 
Land Eecords state that "John Pierce of Litchfield" on May 
15th, 1753, "Bought of Zebulon Bissell 'my home lot' 10 acres 
of land, barn and orchard for £1300". "John Pierce of 
Wethersfield" his father, had previously bought nine acres 
of land from John Catlin for £305, probably for this son. 

These Pierces come of a long line of Pierce ancestry, 
dating back to John Pierce of England, patentee, who after 
an unsuccessful attempt to reach America in the ship "Para- 
gon", in 1621, assigned his patent to the Plymouth Company. 
His brothers, William and Michael, came over later and were 
ancestors of many Pierces in this country. William, "mari- 
ner" and "captain" of the vessels "Anne", "Lyon", and "May- 
flower", sailed on various occasions to Plymouth with passen- 
gers and cargo. He was once in command in 1620 of the one 
and only "Mayflower". It is more than probable, though not 
directly established, that some of these men were the direct 
ancestors of Sarah Pierce. The Patersons came of a promi- 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 63 

nent Scotch family from Dumfriesshire. James Paterson, 
born in Scotland in 1664, came to Wethersfield and there 
married a Mary Talcott. He was the great-grandfather of 
Sarah Pierce. After the death of Sarah's own mother, Mary 
Paterson, John Pierce married a Mary Goodman, of whom it 
is worthy of note that she was on a committee of women who 
appealed to the school board of Litchfield to give the girls the 
same studies as were prescribed for the boys. Mary Good- 
man was a step-mother whose forceful influence and inspira- 
tion are reflected in the mind and character of Sarah Pierce. 

On the death of Sarah's father, the family responsibilities 
fell on her elder brother, Colonel John Pierce who, together 
with a Mr. Landon, sent Sarah and her sister Nancy to a 
school in New York to prepare them purposely for establishing 
a school in Litchfield. 

This fact taken in conjunction with Mary Goodman's 
appeal to the school board in behalf of the girls argues the 
need of a girls' school other than what the town afforded. 

Litchfield society in 1792 was renowned for its education 
and culture. The town was on the highroad of travel between 
New York and Albany by way of Danbury and Poughkeepsie, 
and between New York and Boston by way of Hartford, Dan- 
bury and West Point. Great, red four-horse coaches, we read, 
rushed daily through the town in all directions making more 
stir with horns and whips and clattering hoofs than their 
modern successor the automobile, open cut-outs and all. 

Besides these long distance post roads, there were many 
stage lines to other county towns, to Now Milford, to Canaan, 
to Harwinton, Cornwall, Torrington and Plymouth. 

By 1820 the town had become the fourth in population 
in the state, being outstripped by only New Haven, Hartford 
and Middletown. 

Litchfield was also a commercial and industrial center 
at this time; and we have seen how the Law School drew a 
brilliant company of men and women into this remote and 
pioneer town, making it a center of thought only sixty-four 
years after its foundation. 

Litchfield had also had a noted record in the War of the 
Bevolution just closed. It was the home of the prominent 
patriot families of Wolcotts, Seymours, Sheldons, Woodruffs, 



64 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

Demings, Bissells, Tallmadges and others too numerous to 
mention. > 

It had its weekly newspapers, its public library, and its 
"Lyceum" for lectures and debates. 

All this was Litchfield in the closing decades of the 
eighteenth century and the opening of the nineteenth, in the 
early days of both schools. 

In such a society there was a sympathetic atmosphere for 
a girls' school such as the Pierces had in mind. This was 
in spite of the fact that public opinion of that day confined 
real education to boys only. 

Litchfield, like all New England towns, had made th^e 
usual provision for the public education. One sixtieth part 
of the township, about 700 acres, had been originally set apart 
for the support of schools by the first settlers. 

In Kilbourne's History of Litchfield I read— and by the 
way, I do not feel so much of an outsider when I find that the 
original Indian deed of land to the settlers of Litchfield was 
witnessed on the part of the town by a Joseph Minor and 
"acknowledged" by a John Minor — in this history I read as 
follows : 

"In December, 1725, eight pounds were appropriated from 
the town treasury 'for hiring school masters and school-dames' 
to instruct the children in reading and writing for the next 
year ensuing; and a like sum was ordered to be raised by a 
tax upon the parents or guardians of the children to* be 
gathered by the town collector. Messrs. Marsh, Buel, Hos- 
ford and Goodrich were chosen a school committee. Two 
years later ten persons were paid out of the public treasury 
for the same object, with the proviso that four pounds of 
this sum should be given for the support of a writing school, 
and the balance 'for teaching of children by school-dames' — 
from which we are to infer that female teachers did not give 
instruction in writing". 

In 1731 it was "Voted to build a schoolhouse in ye centre 
of ye town on ye Meeting-House Green". It was to be twenty 
feet square and be taught by a schoolmaster. 

In 1729 it was voted to sell the School lands for the bene- 
fit of a school, but this was found to be illegal so it was 
voted to lease them for a term of nine hundred and ninety- 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 65 

nine years. The committee to negotiate the lease, consisting 
of Messrs. Marsh, Buel, Hosford and Bird, furthermore bound 
their successors "in ye recognisance of ten thousand pounds 
lawful money to give a new lease of said Bight, at the end 
of said term of nine hundred and ninety-nine years, if there 
shall be occasion". 

It is to be hoped that Litchfield's 1000th birthday will see 
that lease safely renewed. 

From these lands came part at least, of the revenue for 
the support of this early public school for reading and 
writing. 

This History does not record the further extent of the 
schooling given when Sarah Pierce began educating herself 
for a teacher of girls in the "higher branches". We only 
know that Mary Goodman and certain other women were dis- 
satisfied with it. 

This, then, was the Litchfield into which Miss Pierce pro- 
jected her school. 

It was not a boarding school as we understand the term, 
for we learn from reminiscences of Catherine Beecher, daughter 
of the Bev. Dr. Lyman Beecher, and a pupil of Miss Pierce, 
that "her school house was a small building of only one room; 
probably not exceeding 30 feet by 70 feet, with small closets at 
each end, one large enough to hold a piano, and the other used 
for bonnets and over garments. The plainest pine desks, 
long plank benches, a small table and an elevated teacher's 
chair constituted the whole furniture". 

The girl pupils, like the law students, were boarded out 
among the best families of the tow T n, a very few being taken 
by Miss Pierce herself into her own house, which was, how- 
ever, not built until 1803. 

Some years there were as many as one hundred students 
in town belonging to each school. 

Very little is known about the earliest years of the school, 
except w r hat can be gleaned from the diaries of the earliest 
pupils and the writings of contemporaries. 

The Bev. Dr. Lyman Beecher moved to Litchfield in 1810 to 
take up his pastorate and many of the pupils were boarded 
in his family. His own famous children were pupils in the 
school. Catherine further writes: "When I began school 



66 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

there, she (Miss Pierce) was sole teaeher, aided occasionally 

by her sister in certain classes, and by her brother-in-law in 
penmanship. 

"At that time the 'higher branches' had not entered female 
schools. Map-drawing, painting, embroidery and the piano 
were the accomplishments sought, and history was the only 
study added to geography, grammar and arithmetic. In pro- 
cess of time her nephew, Mr. John P. Brace, became her asso- 
ciate, and introduced a more extended course. At the time 
father came, the reputation of Miss Pierce's school exceeded 
that of any other in the country. Miss Pierce had a great 
admiration for the English classics and inspired her pupils 
with the same. She was a good reader and often quoted 
or read long passages of poetry and sometimes required ner 
pupils to commit to memory choice selections. Her daily 
counsels were interspersed with quotations from English 
classics. Even the rules of her school, read aloud every 
Saturday, were rounded off in Johnsonian periods, which the 
roguish girls would sometimes burlesque". 

Each school term closed with a dramatic exhibition, staged 
and costumed with every attention to detail, a strange contrast 
to the contemporary Puritanism. Miss Pierce wrote some 
very good plays herself, largely Biblical in theme. The law 
students attended these and added to the liveliness of the 
occasion. They sometimes gave plays of their own in return. 
Harriet Beecher Stowe writes in the "Autobiography of Lyman 
Beecher" of a merry prank that was played during a rehearsal 
of Miss Pierce's favorite drama, "Jephtha's Daughter". "It 
was when Jephtha, adorned with a splendid helmet of gilt 
paper and waving ostrich plumes, was awaiting the arrival 
of his general Pedazer — his daughter's lover — who was to 
enter and say: 'On Jordan's banks proud Amnion's banners 
wave'. Miss Pierce stood looking on to criticise, when having 
pre-arranged the matter, a knock was heard and I ran for- 
ward, saying, 'walk in, Mr. Pedazer'. In he came helmet and 
all, saying, 'How are you, Jep?' who replied 'Hullo, old fellow. 
Walk in and take a chair'. 

"Miss Pierce was in no way discomfited, but seemed to 
relish the joke as much as we young folks. 

"On one occasion of this sort father came in late, and 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 67 

the house being packed, he was admitted by the stage entrance. 
Either from accident or fun, just as he was passing over the 
stage, the curtain rose and the law students spied him and 
commenced clapping. Father stopped, bowed low, amid 

renewed clapping and laughter and then passed on to his seat". 
Mrs. Stowe also writes in her "Life" that "this school is the 
only one I ever knew which really carried out a thorough 
course of ancient and modern history. Miss Pierce with great 
cleverness had compiled an abridgment of ancient history 
from the best sources in four volumes for the use of her 
pupils, after which, Russell's 'Modern Europe' with Coot's con- 
tinuation and Ramsay's 'American Revolution' brought us 
down nearly to our own times". We are also told that Paley's 
"Moral Philosophy", Blair's "Rhetoric" and Addison's "On 
Taste" were among the text books used by this remarkable 
educator, who in addition, did not hesitate to give place in her 
courses to chemistry, higher mathematics, Greek, Latin and 
Logic. 

Miss Pierce herself in an address to her graduating class 
at the close of school, October 29, 1818, has this to say after 
a few words of introduction : "It is not now necessary to enter 
into a discussion of the question whether the abilities of the 
sexes are naturally equal; it is sufficient to notice that the 
circumstances of life require a different exercise of those abili- 
ties. The employments of man and woman are so dissimilar 
that no one will pretend to say that an education for these 
employments must be conducted upon the same plan; but the 
discipline of the minds, the formation of those intellectual 
habits which are necessary in one sex are equally so to the 
other. 

"The difference in their employments requires a difference 
of personal qualifications but not a difference of intellectual 
exertion. It is equally important to both sexes that memory 
should be stored with facts, that the imagination should be 
chastened and confined within its due and regular limits, that 
habits of false judgment, the result of prejudice, ignorance 
or error, should be destroyed or counteracted, that the reason- 
ing faculties should be trained to nice discriminations and 
powerful and regular research. Hence then, all those sciences 
and all those exercises which serve in our sex for those import- 
ant purposes should be part of a well regulated female educa- 



68 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

tion. To many these observations may appear unnecessary 
for they are fully convinced of the importance of this subject; 
but there are some who by their assertions, and more by their 
practice who hold the contrary opinion, and think woman occu- 
pies an inferior rank in creation. To confute this opinion 
and to practically vindicate the equality of female intellect 
has been our object in the course of study prescribed for you". 
Those were brave words in those days. Even as long- 
afterwards as seventy-five or eighty years, it took courage for 
a girl to face jeers and sneers and the poking of fun for the 
sake of a college course. "Bluestocking" and "strong-minded" 
were by no means out-worn terms in the young days of the 
present generation of women who have sought a» education 
equal to man's. 

Our women's colleges have sprung up often in spite of an 
adverse public opinion. Our men's colleges have opened their 
courses and admitted women to their degrees with slow reluc- 
tance during the past thirty years. England — supposedly 
slow to change — was far in advance of us when in 187S women 
began regularly taking men's degrees at the University of 
London and the men's lectures and examinations at Oxford. 
All this proves how far in advance of her day in America 
was Sarah Pierce. 

In 1827 the need of a larger building was felt. For the 
purpose of securing funds the school was incorporated by 
act of the General Assembly as "The Litchfield Female Aca- 
demy" with a capital stock not to exceed $7,500 and shares at 
$15 each. The long list of subscribers still exists giving the 
names of the most eminent men of the town. The first 
Board of ten trustees consisted of Frederick Wolcott, James 
Gould, William Buel, Phineas Miner, Seth P. Beers, Truman 
Smith, John P. Brace, John B. Landon, Daniel Sheldon and 
Jabez Huntington. The contract for the building was given 
to Sylvester Spencer, and the building was erected on the 
same lot, the old building and land being taken as stock sub- 
scribed by Miss Pierce herself. 

In 1832 Mr. Brace resigned to take a position in the 
Female Seminary in Hartford, and a Trustee's notice of Octo- 
ber 30, 1S33, speaks of Miss Pierce as having retired also, 
"although", it says, "she feels a deep interest in its prosperity, 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 69 

and will visit it daily * * * Notwithstanding the removal 
of these eminent instructors, the Trustees state with high grati- 
fication that in their opinion this institution has never been 
more worthy of public confidence and patronage and its pros- 
pects have never been more flattering than at the present 
time". 

Miss Pierce was succeeded by one of her own pupils, Miss 
Henrietta Jones and as the Trustees prophesied, the school 
continued to flourish under her and later principals. 

In 1852 Sarah Pierce died at the age of eighty-four, having 
lived for twenty years after her retirement as the watchful 
guardian, friend and counselor of the institution she had estab- 
lished. 

The Academy continued as a school until in 1S56 it was 
voted by the Trustees that Miss Mary Pierce be allowed to 
purchase the Academy property, both land and buildings. 

Mr. J. Deming Perkins in a letter published in the "Chroni- 
cles" states that the building was finally removed to the 
Beecher lot, now the late Henry E. Jones property, where it 
was used as a boys' school for some years. When Mr. Jones 
bought this lot in 18S2 he turned the famous school building 
into the main part of his dwelling. The Beecher residence 
had migrated before this to "Spring Hill", where it stands as 
a part of this sanitarium, having been purchased and removed 
there by the late Dr. Henry W. Buel. Miss Pierce's own resi- 
dence stood until 189(! when it was torn down by Mrs. Under- 
wood, the latest purchaser of the Pierce lot. 

Thus little that is visible is left of this pioneer enterprise, 
but it lives in enduring memories. 

Contrary to present practice, "school kept" in summer as 
well as winter, there being a "winter" and a "summer" term, 
with from three to four weeks' recess in spring and fall. 

At the end of every week Miss Pierce "told the faults" of 
the girls as they called it, pointing out wherein each had erred 
during the week, the rules were read aloud and questions asked 
of the girls as to their conduct both in and out of school. 

Much freedom was given even in this mecca of law stu- 
dents, though under certain restrictions. The young men 
were allowed to call on certain evenings, but woe to him who 
transgressed the laws of strictest decorum. To be shut out 
from Miss Pierce's was the deepest disgrace that could befall 



70 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

the unhappy youth. It argues a strong and wise administra- 
tion on the part of Miss Pierce and loyal obedience by students 
of both sexes, that she could conduct a young ladies' school 
in such masculine surroundings as the Law School without 
complications. 

One student, Edward Mansfield, who met his fate among 
the girls, thus writes of his first view of the school: 

"It was about the middle of June, 1823, that my father and 
I drove up to Catlin's tavern on the Green in Litchfield. It 
was one of the most beautiful days in the year and just before 
sunset. One of the first objects that struck my eyes was 
interesting and picturesque. This was a long procession of 
school girls coming down North Street walking under the lofty 
elms and moving to the music of a flute and flageolet. The 
girls were gaily dressed and evidently enjoyed their evening 
parade in this most balmy season of the year. It was the 
school of Miss Sally Pierce, one of the earliest and best of 
the pioneers in American female education. That scene has 
never faded from my memory". 

The dull prospect of the law school must indeed have been 
lightened with a brighter tinge just then. He further writes: 
"One of my temptations to an afternoon walk was to meet 
the girls who like ourselves were often seen taking their daily 
walk. Among these were the Wolcotts, the Demings, the Tall- 
madges, the Landons and Miss Peck who afterwards became 
my wife". 

There was a bowling alley west of Prospect Hill Road 
built by Mr. Lord for the students of both schools which was 
a popular resort for these young men and maidens. Prospect 
Hill was also a favorite walk with them as also with Miss 
Pierce herself, who was as much a lover of exercise ami fresh 
air as any modern, even in the deep snows of winter and the 
winds of March. 

There w-ere sleighing parties and many balls, some givqp 
by the girls in the school room, some by the law students in 
Deacon Buel's ball room or in the large dancing hall on the 
top floor of the Tavern on the Green, now Phelps' Tavern. It 
is worthy of remembrance by moderns that a school rule reads 
as follows: "no young lady is allowed to attend any public 
ball or sleighing party till they are more than sixteen years 
old". 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 71 

It is interesting also to note this combination of deacons 
and ball rooms. This proves Litchfield to have been most 
liberally minded. 

The law students quite frequently dropped into the school 
of a Friday afternoon to hear the credit marks of each young 
lady read off by Miss Pierce. We may believe that the girls 
took good care of those marks. 

This frank and open freedom of intercourse between these 
young men and women may have its encouragements for those 
who mourn pessimistically over modern laxities of this kind, 
but it must be remembered that it was allowed under strict 
regulations that were respected and honored by both boys and 
girls. The freedom allowed under these conditions led to 
this result, that no. finer men and women went forth into the 
world than from the Litchfield of that day. 

It is the abuse of freedom by the modern boys and girls 
and allowed by the parents which gives good cause for serious 
apprehension and condemnation. The boys and uirls of one 
hundred years ago obviously had no less fun than modern 
youth, even though under restriction. For this abuse of free- 
dom the modern parent, and their modern notions that the 
proprieties are inconsistent with the "good times'' .young people 
should have, are very seriously to blame. This free inter- 
course of one hundred years ago was "liberty under law" — a 
particularly appropriate phrase under the circumstances. If 
we do not learn lessons from the best in the past of what 
good are bi-centennials or ter-centennials or any other glorifi- 
cations of past days? One Litchfield family where the girls 
boarded was said to be so strict that the law students called 
it "the convent". 

Early hours had to be kept. One of the pupils once 
went to spend the evening at "Aunt Bull's" on Prospect Street. 
A law student of the party put back the hands of the clock 
so that when one of them took Margaret home to school it was 
quite shut up, and finally after many knocks Miss Pierce her- 
self came to the door in night-cap and gown candle in hand. 
If a student called more than three times on a girl, his inten- 
tions were apt to be asked by the watchful elders. Eeligion 
and well-bred conduct formed the chief subjects of the school 
rides which each girl was required to copy and learn. Private 



72 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

scripture reading and devotions, getting up early, taking exer- 
cise before breakfast and in the evening, observing the hours 
of family retiring, prayers and meals; a holy Sabbath keeping, 
useful and regular employment or rational amusement for 
every hour of the week, neatness of rooms and person, truth- 
telling and self-control, politeness and economy— all these were 
inculcated in these rules. They could be posted today to the 
great advantage of schools and families. 

The pupils did much fine sewing and embroidery, made, 
washed and ironed their own clothes, knitted frequently dur- 
ing recitations and when read to by Miss Tierce, did much 
home reading of best books such as travels, letters, histories 
of church and state, "Moral Tales" (which by the way one 
girl commented on in her diary as being "rather immoral"), 
"Sir Charles Grandison", "Don Quixote", sermons and essays 
of every kind, and attended to many household duties in the 
various homes. 

Julia Cowles of Farmington in the eleventh year of her 
age thus begins her diary in 1797: 

"To thee I will relate the events of my youth. I will 
endeavor to excell in learning and correct my faults so that I 
may be enabled to look backward with pleasure and forward 
with hope". 

Mary Peck, another pupil, kept a common-place book or 
album in which are autographs and quotations written in by 
the foremost men and women of the time. 

It remains to speak of the claim of Mrs. Willard's Female 
Seminary of Troy, New York, to be the first of its kind in the 
country. It is a very general though erroneous belief that 
Emma Hart Willard's school was the pioneer. I can assure 
Litchfield the more forcibly perhaps by being an outsider, that 
this is a popular error. Emma Hart was only five years old 
when Miss Pierce started her school in 1792, and she did not 
start the Troy Seminary until well into the first quarter of 
the 19th century. 

Mrs. Willard was herself one of the fine minded, advanced 
women of those days who drew her inspiration from Miss 
Pierce. 

In or about 1814 she had succeeded Idea Strong, a pupil 
of Miss Pierce's, as the principal of a school in Middlebury, 
Vermont, which had been founded by Miss Strong under the 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 73 

direct presence and encouragement of Miss Pierce herself, who 
had gone with her to Vermont in February, 1800, to get it 
started. These two had accompanied Moses Seymour, Jr., as 
far as Middlebury (according to the testimony of his grand- 
son, Dr. Josiah G. Beckwith) when he drove to Vermont in the 
aforesaid February, 1S00, with sleigh and horses to bring back 
to Litchfield another Miss Strong as his bride. The school 
then founded existed for several years, but Miss Strong's 
health failed and she was succeeded by Emma Willard, who 
finally removed it to Troy. 

Miss Pierce had of course returned with the Seymour wed- 
ding party, but the direct connection between her and Mrs. 
Willard through Idea Strong is obvious. It would not detract 
from Mrs. Willard's fame as an educator in the higher branches 
for women if these facts were known more widely than they are. 

The Troy Seminary, still in existence, links past with 
present and leads one's thoughts to present-day education. 
With all our great colleges and universities, our private schools 
and the public school system of which we are justly proud, there 
is something wrong. Why so much illiteracy— and not all 
of it foreign? Why the danger of collapse of our educational 
system through shortage of teachers which educators who 
know tell us we are facing? Why are teachers leaving the 
profession by the thousand because they cannot live in it? 
Why are pupils being turned out half educated with but little 
of the old time thoroughness in fundamentals or of the mental 
discipline such as Miss Pierce said was so necessary for both 
girls and boys? To answer these questions is not my purpose 
today. I merely call attention to them as problems for which 
a quick remedy must be found. The machinery of everything 
has speeded up except the machinery of our schools. Our 
school machinery is out of gear with the rest. It must be 
speeded up to a higher level of efficiency if the future citizens 
and voters of the Republic are to have that average intelligence 
which alone can make democracy safe for ourselves and the 
world. 

This is no longer a state or local problem, it is a national 
problem. It is as much a national problem as the care of 
our agricultural and mechanical interests. The nation sub- 
sidizes state colleges of agriculture and the mechanical arts. 
It does not assist state normal schools which train the teachers 



74 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

to whose care and training we commit our children, body and 
mind. 

The normal school is the least attractive professional 
school that we have, when it ought to be the most so. Its 
standards are lower, its instruction cheaper, than they should 
In- to attract the best to the profession of teaching. 

During the past school year in Connecticut, only 74 per 
cent of the teachers were college or normal trained. The 
reason is that 107 towns were paying their teachers an average 
yearly salary of only $800 or less while only 41 were paying 
$1,000 or more. Thirty-five towns paid $000 or less and one 
town paid only $400. Such salaries do not admit of profes- 
sional training in preparation for teaching. In 1010 our Con- 
necticut normal schools had an enrollment of 900 but this year 
it sank back to 4G5. We face a shortage of from 400 to 600 
teachers next fall. 

As a nation we have lagged behind others in the prepara- 
tion of our teachers both men and women. We fail to give 
them a living salary; we fail to give that social recognition 
which such a profession has a right to expect. Is there any 
profession more lofty than that which moulds mind and soul 
and fits a child for life and citizenship? Yet for the teacher 
there is low salary, small social recognition, cheap preparation. 

Agriculture, commerce, labor are represented by depart- 
ments in our Government with a seat in the Cabinet; not so 
the education of the nation's children. This also should have 
a department of its own with a cabinet officer at its head, 
instead of being as it is today, a mere bureau tucked under 
the Department of the Interior. Shall w r e not do as much for 
our children as for our fields, our cattle, our commerce and 
our laboring interests? 

The percentage of native born illiteracy as revealed by 
the draft w r as startling. We expect it in the foreigner. We 
do not expect it in our own, yet it is there. Its eradication 
depends on the rural school, the village school, and yet these 
are the weakest link in our educational chain. 

We are told that sixty per cent of the next generation of 
American citizens are enrolled in the rural school and that 
five out of six of native-born illiterates live in rural communi- 
ties. Yet the rural schools are in charge of the youngest, the 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 75 

least educated, the least competent and well-trained of our 
public school teachers. 

One million rural children are being taught by teachers 
who have not themselves passed beyond the 7th and 8th grades 
of the elementary schools; at least five or six million are 
under teachers of less than twenty-one years of age. It is 
clear from these facts given us by those who know, that upon 
the rural schools lies a vast responsibility and to the rural 
schools must be given a vast amount of help. 

This comes back upon the town and the tax-payer to 
remedy in large measure; but it also comes back upon the 
nation at large to treat the situation nationally. A national 
policy of education linked up with that of state and town is 
the answer in brief to our educational problems. It must be a 
policy that shall raise the profession of public teaching to the 
position where it belongs — at the summit of all professions, 
commanding recognition and respect. It must be a policy 
that shall adequately train the boys and girls — the incipient 
voters of the future — to be intelligent as well as loyal Ameri- 
can citizens, to be good men and women, upright, truthful and 
fearing God, to be that which is highest of all, the fathers 
and mothers of God's children yet unborn. 

These are thoughts that every American community should 
ponder in its heart of hearts — and translate into action. Only 
thus shall we preserve the ideas and principles upon which 
this nation is builded, and which are being attacked every 
day — yes, even in our very schools, by those who seek to destroy 
them. Only thus shall we perpetuate the free political insti- 
tutions and the earnest religious soul transplanted here by 
Pilgrim and Cavalier three hundred years ago and producing 
some of their fairest fruits in the Litchfield of Tapping Reeve 
and Sarah Pierce. 



THE TOLEEANT SPIRIT OF THE AMERICAN 

COLONISTS. 

Address by The Rev. Howard Duf field, D. D. 

(Pastor Emeritus of the First Presbyterian Church, 

New York City.) 

Congregational Church, August 1, 1920. 

I count myself happy to be a visitor to this historic hill- 
town in this great hour of its wonderful life. With all my 
heart I congratulate you upon the memory of those priceless 
contributions with which Litchfield has enriched the life 
and thought of America and of the world— and earnestly do 
I pray that the story of the coming years may outshine even 
this radiant past. 

The voices that are speaking to us out of the bygone 
years, and the circumstances of the moment unite in dictating 
one theme upon which I am privileged to address you. Just 
now our thought is especially focused upon the little company 
of brave, farseeing pioneer souls who led the world of their 
day, and blazed the path along which alone humanity can 
reach its highest goals. It shall be my welcome endeavor to 
rebut certain popular aspersions which are ignorantly cast 
upon them and to reveal the noble spirit which dwelt within 
them— and made them what they were, and makes us count 
it our highest pride to be called their children. I shall do 
what I can to emphasize "The Tolerant Spirit of the Ameri- 
can Colonists". 

At first blush there does not seem to be any. Aldrich 
once wrote a story entitled "Marjory Daw". The heart of the 
reader is enchanted by the loveliness of the heroine, only to 
receive a rude shock as the romance ends with the unlooked 
for sentence "There is no Marjory Daw", and the fascinating 
charmer vanishes into thin air. It is an impression quite 
universal that the grace of tolerance in the Puritan Founders 
of America is just such an imaginary quality, as exotic to their 
nature as pineapples to Greenland. The almost unanimous 



78 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

opinion is that they were the rugged reflection of a harsh 
environment ; that the granitic quality of the rocks upon which 
they dwelt, made them stony-hen rted; that the wintry tempests 
and the chilling snows which they encountered, wrought bleak- 
ness into their blood; that the pestilence which haunted their 
early occupancy of the New World, disturbed their mental 
poise, so that they became warped, abnormal, one-sided and 
narrow-minded. Their heroic qualities, their exalted ideals, 
their martyr-like devotion to what they counted to be the 
truth, is freely admitted, but they loom up before popular 
conception in outlines of grim unreality, not wholly unlike 
that repellant caricature of them which a distinguished Eng- 
lish writer etched with a pen dipped in vitriol: "The savage 
brutality of the America^ Puritans, truthfully told, would 
afford one of the most significant and profitable lessons that 
history could teach. Champions of liberty, but merciless 
and unprincipled tyrants; fugitives from, persecution, but 
the most senseless and reckless of persecutors; claimants of 
an eidightened religion, but the last \ipholders of the cruel 
and ignorant creed of witch doctors; whining over the ferocity 
of the Indian, yet outdoing the ferocity a hundred-fold; com- 
plaining of his treachery, yet, as their descendants have been 
to this day, treacherous, with a deliberate indifference to 
plighted faith such as the Indians have seldom shown, — the 
ancestors of the heroes of the Revolutionary and of the Civil 
War might be held up as examples of the power of a Calvin- 
istic religion and a bigoted republicanism to demoralize fair 
average specimens of a race which under better influences, 
has shown itself the least cruel, least treacherous, least tyran- 
nical of the master races of the world". 

The first fact which casts a doubt upon the correctness 
of this characterization and suggests the necessity of modify- 
ing its sweeping criticism, is the character of the men who 
founded the colonies. 

The Atlantic seaboard was no Botany Bay, no dumping 
ground for the waste and refuse of European life. The early 
settlers were not a band of adventurers questing aimlessly 
about the world, nor a company of merchants led by the lure 
of gold. The Mayflower did not carry steerage. The men 
of the earliest emigration were picked souls. "God sifted a 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 79 

whole nation that He might send choice grain out into this 
wilderness". They were the selected character products of 
England's Golden Age. 

There is a spell in England whose mystic power affects the 
most casual visitor to that favored land. Storied castles 
repeat in stately stone the chronicles of knightly prowess and 
chivalric achievement. Ivied universities are haunted with 
a cloud of the master spirits of the race, and their walls and 
towers echo the teachings of the princeliest minds in the realm 
of thought. Glorious cathedrals, "poems in stone", celebrate 
and perpetuate the noble genius of an age-long worship, and 
link the loftiest religious aspirations with the serenest forms 
of material beauty. 

This aesthetic stimulus suffused and surcharged our ances- 
tral lina The atmosphere which enveloped them from the 
cradle-side was tinged with this tonic impulse. Inevitably, 
even if insensibly, it toned their life, and refined their fiber, 
and bred distinction in their manner of looking at existence. 
The Puritan poet whose crown is second only to that of 
Shakespeare, was not the only one of his circle who loved to 
brood on "dim religious light, and long drawn aisles and fret- 
ted vaults". The stern dictates of a high-strung nature might 
on occasion recoil from the forms in which these exalting 
forces were enshrined; but the eloquence of these voices of 
history and the magic influence of these forms of beauty 
wrought upon the spirits of those warriors, scholars and 
worshipers who planted the new world with its life force, 
and could not be eradicated. "That happy breed of men", 
says Lowell, "who both in Church and State led our first emi- 
gration, were children of the most splendid intellectual epoch 
that England has ever known. For learning, intelligence 
and general accomplishment they were far above the average 
of the country and the Church, from which their conscience 
had driven them out". The figure of the founder of the Colo- 
nies as revealed in the white light of history is quite other 
from that in which he appears to the popular fancy. An 
insatiable appetite for the truth possessed them. The parting 
words of their Pastor as they knelt together beside the sea, 
at the hour of embarkation for the New World, were ever 
ringing within their souls: "Remember", said the good 
John Robinson of Leyden, "always remember there is more 



80 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

light ahead than has ever yet shone upon the -world". They 
never forgot. They pointed the prow of their ship toward 
uncrossed horizons. They lived with their faces toward the 
rising of the sun. They were Avatchers for the dawn. The 
life force of these men was not of a kind to crystallize into 
hardness, cruelty and fanaticism, by being distilled into a 
new world. 

A second fact which gives pause to the familiar stric- 
tures upon the Puritan and suggests a revision of the popular 
conception of his character, is the outcome of the work which 
he began. 

The handful of corn which he planted beside the sea has 
yielded a harvest that is enriching the world. The grain of 
mustard seed which he sast upon the rocks has rooted and 
risen, until its branches overshadow the whole earth. That 
tiny cluster of colonies Avhich he called into being he impreg- 
nated with such singular vital energy that it has developed 
into a glorious nation of United States, the wealthiest, and 
perhaps the mightiest, and, without question, the freest of 
the people of the globe. Its ideal is "government of the peo- 
ple, by the people, for the people". Its Declaration of Inde- 
pendence opens with the proclamation, "all men are created 
free and equal". Its strong conscience has revolted against 
any infringement of popular rights, and vindicated the liberty 
of mankind at great cost of gold, of blood and tears. It is the 
guaranteed home of equal rights and universal liberty, civil 
and religious. Under its sky the children of all the nations 
find shelter. Beneath its flag the highest and the humblest 
possess equal privilege. Such is the bequest of the American 
Colonists to the world, and by their fruits, not by their roots, 
shall ye know them. Men do not gather grapes of thorns, 
even in these modern times. Not even Burbank has discovered 
a wizardry of cross-fertilization whereby figs can be grown on 
thistles. "Every seed after its kind", is as true in this hour 
as in the long ago when the Master of life walked the meadow 
paths of Galilee, and read the laws of God that were written 
in the wayside flowers. 

A further examination of Colonial conditions brings to 
light the fact that the instances which are supposed to give 



LITCHFIELD BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 81 

color to the idea that our fathers were intolerant bigots, are 
not the characteristic happenings of their life, but are occa- 
sional, unusual and infrequent. 

The incidents which paint the Puritan so darkly, which 
robe him in gloom, and surcharge him with bitterness of soul, 
have been written into history somewhat after the fashion of 
that modern school of journalism which flares out in eye- 
dazzling capitals, selected morsels of crime and indecency, but 
prints all qualifying matter in type of microscopic dimensions. 
If one were to limit his knowledge of present day social condi- 
tions to the data furnished by these alleged purveyors of the 
daily doings of the world, he would be constrained to the 
conclusion that reason and intelligence, common sense and 
common decency had fled to ''brutish beasts", and that our 
civilization was only and altogether abnormal, criminal, sot- 
tish, grotesque, salacious. Our forefathers made mistakes, of 
course. They were men, not seraphs. That they committed 
many an act which, viewed in the light of our day, and mea- 
sured by later ethical standards, appears repellant and forbid- 
ding, is to be admitted without the slightest question. But 
the performances of this class have been given undue emphasis, 
and exaggerated significance, while their achievements of an 
opposite character, phenomenal for their time, and inspira- 
tional for all time, have been relegated to an unmerited 
obscurity. Xow and then, especially along the New England 
seaboard, while the new world was amaking and the forces 
that were to mould a continent and fashion the leader of the 
nations were being generated, there were acts for which no one 
can apologize. But their very harshness is projected against 
a background of high thought and noble endeavor. Virginia 
was the seat of the freest and most enlightened institutions. 
Maryland and Rhode Island were asylums, free as the sun- 
light, for those of all beliefs. Pennsylvania, said Voltaire, 
was the one spot in the known world where men could be 
religious and not tear each other to pieces. In New York, 
the first English Governor, Dongan, introduced a Charter of 
Liberties that would need no amendment today as a guarantee 
of largest civic freedom. 

The Colony of Connecticut is one of the most classic 
instances of this inversion of historic emphasis. The very 



82 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

mention of the name suggests wooden nutmegs and the Blue 
Laws. It is not impossible to subvert the conviction that 
Yankee ingenuity manufactured nutmegs in carpenter shops, 
but it is one of the labors of Hercules to illumine the average 
understanding with the fact that there was in reality no more 
indigo in Connecticut laws than there was wood in her nut- 
megs. The famous Blue Laws, which have feathered so many 
of the envenomed arrows discharged at the unspeakable nar- 
rowness of the nation's founders, in reality never existed. They 
were cobwebs in the brain of a Tory renegade, the Rev. Samuel 
Peters, who, while the men of his colony were fighting the 
battles, of their country, was sneaking around London and 
peddling for a mouthful of bread whatever stories would 
delight or horrify our British cousins concerning the patriots 
of the Revolution who were in arms against the throne. In 
point of strict veracity, John Fiske declares that Peters divides 
the palm with Baron Munchausen. At the present day he 
would be an ex-officio member of the Ananias Club. The river 
at Bellows Falls, he declares, flows so fast that it floats iron 
crow bars, and he gravely describes as among the household 
pets of America, animals that can only be classified under the 
genus Jabberwock. The most famous passage of his fictitious 
Blue Code is that which enacts "no woman shall kiss her 
child on the Sabbath", but the illuminating context is seldom 
quoted and almost unknown. The entire sentence reads, "that 
no woman shall kiss her child on the Sabbath", and that "no 
one shall play any instrument of music upon that day, except 
the drum, the trumpet or the jewsharp". But while the 
mockers at the imaginary Blue Laws of Connecticut are legion, 
the individuals are rare who know that to the Nutmeg State 
belongs the honor of having produced the first written Con- 
stitution in the New World, as a complete scheme of civic 
order, embodying all the essential features of the Republic as 
it exists today. "Nearly two centuries have elapsed", writes 
Bancroft, "the world lias been made wiser by various experi- 
ences, political institutions have become the theme on which 
the most powerful and cultivated minds have been employed; 
dynasties of kings have been dethroned, recalled and dethroned 
again, and so many constitutions have been framed or reframed, 
stifled or subverted, that memory may despair of a complete 
catalogue, but the people of Connecticut have found no reason 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 83 

to deviate essentially from the government as established by 
their fathers. They who judge of men by their influence upon 
public happiness and by the services they render to the human 
race will never cease to honor the memory of Hooker and 
Haynes". 

Any careful examination of Colonial conditions ivill reveal 
the fact that the oppressive and intolerant actions for which 
the fathers have been fudged at the bar of posterity were ordi- 
narily regarded by them as measures of political necessity, and 
not the exercise of ecclesiastical tyranny. 

The experience of Roger Williams is a case in point. The 
current opinion concerning him is that he stood forth as a 
champion of liberty, a defender of equal rights, an opponent 
of the stringent restrictions of the theocratic form of govern- 
ment, and that he was therefore suppressed and exiled by the 
narrow bigotry of the Massachusetts Council. He is painted 
in winsome outline and attractive color. His opponents are 
portrayed with a black crayon, and in sour and repellant lines. 
Roger Williams was indeed a brave and scholarly gentleman, 
of high ideals, and noble breadth of view. But, says John 
Fiske, "he was overfull of logical subtleties, and delighted in 
controversy". He was temperamentally pugnacious, and as we 
all know when one shies his hat into the ring and announces 
himself the champion of every idea that slaps the face of 
accepted convention and constitutional privilege, an able-bodied 
scrimmage is the next thing on the programme. Roger Wil- 
liams always carried a chip on his shoulder, of a size which 
was easily visible to the naked eye. Our forebears were not 
the men who feared to take a dare. Under the circumstances 
effervescence was as inevitable as when acid is mixed with 
alkali. There was a terrific battle of tongues. There was a 
fierce and endless chopping of logic. At length Williams 
committed the great political imprudence of writing a pam- 
phlet in which he picked a flaw in the Colonists' title to their 
holdings under the King's grant, insisting that a legitimate 
title could not issue from the throne, but could only be obtained 
by purchase from the Indians. Such a theory, true or false, 
could only be regarded in England as an assault upon the 
royal prerogative, and must inevitably draw down upon the 
Colonists the thunderbolts of the royal displeasure, for the 



84 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

fulmination of which the King was at that very moment seek- 
ing in every corner for a pretext. To make matters worse, 
Endicott, a rabid hater of every suggest ion of papacy, sent the 
already fevered temperature several degrees higher by cutting 
from the flag of the Salem Company of militia the red cross 
of St. George, with which it was blazoned, an act which would 
find its parallel in tearing the stars from the field of our 
national colors. This performance was instantly construed by 
all loyal Englishmen as a defiance of the royal authority, and 
was very generally, and quite naturally, represented as the 
inevitable fruit of Roger Williams' criticism of the prerogatives 
of the throne. The spark was sputtering at the very door of 
the powder magazine. Prompt and drastic measures were 
necessary to avert a political explosion that would wipe the 
New England colonies off the map. Endicott was reprimanded 
and suspended from office. Eoger Williams was summoned to 
Boston, and was directed to return to England. Retreating 
into the forest to escape jurisdiction, he wintered in a wigwam 
with a friendly Indian. In the Spring he received a private, 
and not unkindly, hint from Gen. Winthrop, that if he should 
steer his troublous course to Narragansett Bay, he would be 
free from all molestation. 

It is to be deplored that the temper of the times was such 
that a more sympathetic treatment could not have been given 
to this representative of advanced ideas concerning freedom 
of thought and liberty of soul, but it should be clearly under- 
stood that his expulsion from the Massachusetts Colony was 
not on account of his theological opinions, but upon the ground 
of his being accounted an enemy of the public welfare, a menace 
to the continuance of the life of the colony. The spirit in 
which the Colonies dealt with him is illuminated when it is 
remembered that had he announced in Old England the same 
opinions which he ventilated in New England, he would have 
been pilloried, his property confiscated, and his ears and nose 
cropped. Had he promulgated them in Continental Europe 
he would have been burned at the stake. It was a scant 
twenty years since Edward Wright suffered death by fire under 
good King James, patron saint of the Authorized Version of 
the Holy Scriptures, for uttering precisely similar sentiments. 
At the very hour when Winthrop was advising Williams of 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 85 

an asylum where he might settle in sheltered security, the 
prisons of the mother country were being overstocked with 
Baptists. To the twelve years' imprisonment of one of them 
we owe the celestial vision of "The Pilgrim's Progress". To 
refuse Williams the freedom of the colony in view of the situa- 
tion which he had created, was no more irrational nor intol- 
erant than it was for the landlady of Isaac Taylor, the Pla- 
tonist, to decline to permit him to sacrifice a bull to Jupiter in 
her back parlor. 

The story of Mistress Anne Hutchinson strikingly illus- 
trates the same point. Anne Hutchinson was a lady from 
Lincolnshire, England, endowed with rare mental gifts, and of 
great personal charm, although, as Fiske says, "impulsive and 
indiscreet". She signalized her advent into Boston by lectur- 
ing upon certain abstruse themes in theology. Thus early did 
the genius of Boston exhibit itself. The polite entertainment 
of that infant city was lectures. The lecturer was a learned 
lady. The themes were of that transcendental sort for which 
the brain nourished upon the bean displays such peculiar 
proclivity. Madame Hutchinson's deliverances filled the city 
with excitement until the town was fairly boiling, like a 
witches' cauldron. The community became divided into hos- 
tile camps. Leaders in the Church and in society ranked 
themselves on opposite sides, and faced each other as with 
levelled bayonets. No wonder that Winthrop marveled at 
hearing that social, distinctions had become of very little 
moment, and that the community at large was sharply, and 
militantly, rent asunder into belligerent theological camps, 
under a covenant of grace, and under a covenant of works,, 
handing out to one another anathema and excommunication, as 
fervently and profusely as they were bandied about in other 
countries by Papists and Protestants. In spite of this philo- 
sophical clamor and theological hubbub, he sagely ventured 
to doubt "whether any man could really tell what was the 
actual question in debate". Meantime, tidings came pouring 
in from every quarter of the compass that the Indian tribes 
were massing for a general attack upon the Colonists, in the 
hope of driving them back into the sea, across which they 
had come. When the call to arms was sounded, and the 
Colonial Militia was summoned to rally to the colors, and it 
was found that the men of Boston would not march, because 



86 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

they had suspicion that their Chaplain was under a covenant 
of works, it was not unnaturally believed to be high time to 
call a halt upon .Mrs. Hutchinson's lucubrations, and she was 
ordered to leave the Colony. It was a most unpardonable 
and unhappy act of oppression, but as Fiske, that most cautious 
and impartial of chroniclers, remarks, "Of all such acts which 
stain the history of Massachusetts in the 17th Century, it is 
just the one for which the plea of political necessity may really 
be to some extent accepted". 

When the conditions in the Colonies arc measured against 
contemporaneous conditions in. the Old World, instead of being 
compared with the standards of our day, it is found that our 
fathers led the world in all that makes for the advancement 
of the race. 

Compared with the practices of the lands they had left, 
and with the principles of the then civilized world, their 
advanced position with regard to theories of government, the 
rights of man, and the elevation of the individual, provoke 
equal admiration and surprise. To find fault with our ances- 
tors for failing to measure up to the standards of the present 
day which have been wrought out during the two strenuous 
centuries since their dust mingled with that soil, which their 
life has made forever famous, were as rational as to find fault 
with tallow dips, because they do not blaze like arc lights, or 
with ox carts, because they are not so luxurious as limousines; 
or with flintlocks, because they lack the effectiveness of Win- 
chester rifles. 

Another charge which quarters a bar sinister upon our 
ancestral escutcheon is the hardhearted treatment of the 
Quakers. When the recital of the seemingly wanton barbari- 
ties with which the Colonists treated the Quakers is reviewed, 
it must not be forgotten that in the 17th Century the name 
of "Quaker" was not associated with the gentle and lovable 
company who move among us with quiet tread and shining 
faces, but that they were then universally regarded as lawless 
enthusiasts, defiant of all restraints, outraging all rights, and 
stirring in the community a general feeling of horror and 
dread. Persecution was not shunned by them. They coveted 
it. They did not seek a retreat in which to worship unmol- 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 87 

ested, as the Colonists had crossed the seas to do, but they 
deemed it their supreme business to readjust Christendom, and 
where they were least welcome, there they felt the strongest 
call to go. In this spirit they resorted to Massachusetts. The 
Quaker theories of social order were flatly antagonistic to the 
Puritan ideals. Their coming to Boston was the deliberate 
invasion of a hostile country, and was so understood by both 
parties to the unhappy contest. They challenged controversy. 
They courted martyrdom. Rhode Island offered them peaceful 
asylum, but the heavy penalties which the Massachusetts Col- 
ony imposed upon them was a lure that drew them. The Puri- 
tan Government was a "Man of Sin", and they felt a call to 
demolish it. They assumed an attitude of sheer anarchy. It 
became a point of duty with them to violate the consciences of 
all from whom they differed. They hooted the Governor on his 
way to worship. They chopped wood on the Church steps. They 
ran their spinning wheels in the Church vestibules. They rushed 
down the Church aisles proclaiming their vagaries. Some 
of them practiced the questionable grace of nudity, and, remov- 
ing their clothing, paraded the streets in Adamic simplicity — 
in order that they might testify in the sight of the Lord. The 
mass of the followers of George Fox seem to have taken small 
part in these bizarre proceedings, but, as always, the many 
were compelled to bear the burden of the few extremists, and 
the odium of this fanaticism attached to the entire Quaker 
body, and they were universally regarded as a set of pestilent 
and dangerous insnrrectionaries. In the mother country they 
were crammed into gaol by the thousands. At one time 

the prison registers contained twelve thousand of their names, 
and so inhuman was their treatment that at least one-tenth 
of them died of gaol fever. Cromwell was indisposed to annoy 
them, and was friendly to Fox, but in spite of his sympathy 
he was compelled by their defiance of legal restraints to sub- 
ject many of them to rigorous punishment. According to John 
Fiske, they were proceeded against "not for preaching heresy, 
but for violating the peace". A quotation from an official 
document will reveal the contemporaneous atmosphere. In 
1708 the English Quakers petitioned the English government 
against the Colonial laws which had been levelled against 
them. Governor Saltonstall, of Connecticut Colony, wrote in 
reply to Sir Henry Ashurst, as follows, — "I may observe from 



88 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

the matter of their objections that they have a further reach 
than to obtain liberty for their own persuasion, as they pre- 
tend (for many of the laws they object against concern them 
no more than if they were Turks or Jews) ; for as there never 
was, that I know of, for this twenty years that I have resided 
in this government, any one Quaker, or other person, that 
suffered upon the account of his different persuasion in religi- 
ous matters from the body of this people". 

The most well Known and the gravest charge in the indict- 
ment against the founders of the Colonies is the persecution 
and the execution of alleged witches. The contrast in this 
respect between the American Colonists and the world they 
left behind their backs is most striking. Persecution for 
witchcraft began in the mother country long before the settle- 
ment of America, and persisted for more than a quarter of a 
century after the delusion had been exposed, and the night- 
mare had vanished from Massachusetts. The first English 
statute against witches was enacted in the reign of Henry VIII, 
dubbed Defender of the Faith, in virtue of being the head and 
front of the Anglican Keformation. Under the direct per- 
sonal influence of James I, who appears in history with a 
tinsel halo because of his accidental association with the 
Authorized Version of the Holy Scriptures, — the witch law 
was made more stringent, and under its elaborate provisions 
a vast number of people were put to death under circumstances 
of revolting atrocity. In 1644, after the Restoration of the 
Stuarts, occurred a classic trial for witchcraft, in which Sir 
Thomas Browne, a learned physician, and perhaps the most 
accomplished scholar of his time, gave testimony; and the 
celebrated jurist Sir Matthew Hale, Chief Justice of England, 
echoed the witness from the bench. It is a significant fact 
that all the great English thinkers, Shakespeare, 3? a con, Sei- 
dell, Raleigh and Browne, believed in witches, and none of 
them was a Puritan. Between 16G0 and 1718 more than 
twenty-four books were published in England in support of 
this dire delusion, — a gruesome Five-foot Bookshelf. As late 
as 1711 the refined and cultured Joseph Addison came out in 
its defence. At a later day John "Wesley asserted his 

unbounded belief in witchcraft, asserting in language not 
unfamiliar to our own ears, "that when he gave it up, he must 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 89 

abandon his Bible". The latest execution for witchcraft by 
law in England was 1716; in France, 1718; in Scotland, 1722; 
in Germany, 1749; in Switzerland, 17G0; in Poland, 1793. 

This direful nightmare which, brooding over Europe 
throughout the Middle Ages, held England in its fell clutch 
from Henry VIII to 1716, seized the Massachusetts Colony in 
1644, but was completely exorcised in 1692, a period of less 
than fifty years. In the Colonies twenty-seven persons suf- 
fered death for witchcraft during this half century, while dur- 
ing this same period in England, in a single year, in a single 
county, sixty poor wretches were executed upon this charge 
with all due process of law. 

The attitude of the Colonists toward Indians, toward 
Quakers, and toward Witches were mere excrescences upon 
the surface of their life. At heart it was pure and sweet. 
These things were gnarls in the bark, not knots in the grain. 
They were survivals of another age and or a former environ- 
ment, like the dodo and the kangaroo, that are the tokens to 
us of what Saurians once roamed this now hospitable earth. 
The Colonists were narrow, but their's was a narrowness with 
depth to it, and "it has been a narrowness for which the Puri- 
tan has suffered in the diminution of his fame more than others 
for conspicuous crimes". 

With characteristic insight James Russell Lowell has writ- 
ten, "Our Puritan ancestors have been maligned and mis- 
represented by persons without imagination enough to make 
themselves contemporary with and therefore able to under- 
stand the men whose memories they strive to blacken". Their 
errors were many. Their faults were neither few nor light. 
They wanted the breadth of vision and the genial warmth of 
humanity that belongs to a later day, and which their very 
blood has bred in their descendants. But the acts which are 
alleged in evidence of their cruelty and bigotry are not of the 
essence of their nature. They were the survival of the con- 
ditions under which they had been born, the unhappy heritage 
of the age in which they lived. Their blunders were the 
blunders of the pioneer. When the American Colonies were 
being founded, humanity was emerging from a condition of 
mental and spiritual enslavement. Society was in bonds to 
the divine right of kings. The Church was in captivity to 



90 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

the tyranny of papacy. The very definition of liberty was yet 
to be formulated. The great-hearted men who moulded Colo- 
nial life were busy in translating the Reformation into a 
political form. It was a task for giants. Like Atlas, they 
lifted the world on their shoulders. It was inevitable that 
they should follow many a false lead before they found the 
open road. It was certain that they would wander into many 
a side track before they struck the straight and shining trail 
of truth. That they should have cast off so many of their 
swaddling bands, that they should slough off so many of their 
inherited habits, that they should have set to themselves 
such starry goals, that they should have pressed toward them 
with such a consuming and unexhaustible ardor, this is the 
marvel. They were unable in a few decades to free themselves 
from modes of thought and principles of action which had 
been engrained by centuries, but they did succeed in sounding 
the trumpet call by which all after generations have guided 
their onward march. 

It is written that when darkness enfolded Egypt as with 
a pall, the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. 
Such a situation was strikingly reproduced in the Colonial 
period. The shadows lay thick upon the older Avorld, while 
these Western shores of the Atlantic were aglow with light. 
Upon these sterile and rock-set coasts were kindled the shin- 
ing tokens of a new day, — a great, a glorious, a planetary day, 
like one of those mighty world-days whose record is written 
in the story of the earth's creation. The light was not the 
unclouded glory of the noontime, but was chequered with those 
straggling mists of the night which always cling about the gate- 
ways of the dawn. The growing radiance did not bathe the 
whole waiting land with its splendor. Many a low-lying valley 
and far-stretched plain lay wrapped in the shade, but the lofty 
crests of the sentinel peaks Avere robed with a glow which told 
to all men that a new morning had come. 



OFFICIAL PROGRAM 

MONDAY, AUGUST SECOND. 
State Day 

10:45 a. in.— His Excellency, Governor Marcus H. Hol- 
conib and Staff received with full military honors at Play- 
house. 

11:00 a. m. — Parade starts from Playhouse composed as 
follows: 2nd Co. Governor's Foot Guard, 1st Co. G. F. G., 
New Haven Grays, Putnam Phalanx, Governor Holcomb, Staff 
and special guests in automobiles. 

Line of March— West street to Meadow; Meadow to West- 
over; Westover to South; South to Phelps' Tavern; East street 
to North, to head of street; countermarch down North, past 
reviewing stand, down West street to the Park where luncheon 
will be served. Officers, Governor and others entertained 
elsewhere. 

2:00 p. m.— Playhouse, addresses by Governor Holcomb, 
former Governor Weeks, Hon. Thomas F. Reilly and Major 
John L. Gilson. 

2:00 p. m.— Congregational Church— Addresses by Lyman 
Beecher Stowe, Congressman James P. Glynn, United States 
Senator Frank B. Brandegee. 

3:30 p. m. — Playhouse— Reception to Governor Holcomb, 
Staff and Officials. 

4 :30 p. m. — Regimental Drill in Center Square with review 
by Commander-in-Chief. 




> 



ADDRESS BY GOVEKNOK MAKCUS H. HOLCOMB. 
The Playhouse, August 2, 1920. 

I have not prepared a speech. I simply came up to the 
old town to see the people of Litchfield on their 200th anniver- 
sary celebration. 

I am here to bear testimony to what these States United 
know of the town of Litchfield. It is one of the old conserva- 
tive New England towns and represents that class of citizens 
who, during the nineteenth century, have developed the United 
States of America from thirteen feeble colonies into the great- 
est and most powerful republic there is in the world. The 
great problem with us is to keep it so. Our Revolutionary 
forefathers established here a government based on the Con- 
stitution, which was followed closely until recent times. Now 
Litchfield has always been conservative, but in these days in 
our country, there appears to me to be a tendency and a pre- 
valent disposition to accomplish some result by going cross- 
wise and ignoring Constitutional methods. I do not care how 
worthy any object is, if it is gained at the expense of a viola- 
tion of the Constitution it is too high a price to pay for it. 

This old town of Litchfield has been one of the most influ- 
ential towns in the country. It was the fiftieth town in the State 
of Connecticut to be incorporated. It was the second town 
in the County to be incorporated, and later the County was 
incorporated and named after the town. I was admitted to the 
Bar in the Court House which stood on the site where the 
present Court House stands, fifty years ago next October. I 
am getting to be in the ancient class. At that time there 
were thirty-seven lawyers in Litchfield County, twelve here 
on Litchfield hill. 

The Governor's Foot Guard dates back with the town of 
Litchfield to colonial times. The First Regiment was formed 
in 1771. The Second Regiment was chartered in 1775. They 
are almost the two oldest military organizations in existence 
in the United States. 

This town has always been a source of strength to the 



94 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

State of Connecticut and what the State of Connecticut has 
always represented. I was looking up records for it and 
find that the town of Litchfield has furnished three governors 
to the State of Connecticut, one of them a signer of the Decla- 
ration of Independence. It has furnished five Chief Justices of 
the Supreme Court of the State, two United States Senators, 
and eleven Congressmen. There is no other town in the state 
that can begin to show the proud record for achievement that 
the town of Litchfield can. It was the birthplace of Henry 
Ward Beecher and of Harriet Beecher Stowe, the birthplace of 
Ethan Allen. It was the birthplace of many other men and women 
who have won a reputation throughout the world. So that 
today, in my opinion, this old town of Litchfield is the most 
beautiful town and the most representative town of the old 
conservative conditions that there is in the State of Connecti- 
cut, and that means it is the most beautiful town there is in 
the United States of America. 

Xow I hope that the State will always be governed by the 
sentiment that is represented in the majority of the citizens of 
old Litchfield. If it is, we shall continue to be a government 
of the people and by the people, the government Lincoln repre- 
sented, the government Washington represented. I am glad to 
be here to felicitate the people of Litchfield and the State of 
Connecticut for what this old town has been and what it is. 



ADDRESS BY FORMER GOVERNOR FRANK B. WEEKS. 
The Playhouse, August 2, 1920. 

At the outset I want to say that I rejoice with the people 
of Litchfield on this beautiful day of celebration. Undoubtedly, 
the prayers of the committee have been answered. 

It is a great pleasure to me to come again to beautiful 
Litchfield, and I use that word "beautiful" advisedly, for it 
must have been attractive here two hundred years ago when 
our forefathers selected the site to found a township, to build 
houses and prepare for those who should follow them. It must 
have been beautiful here fifty years later when some of those 
old houses were residences of people whose patriotism and intel- 
ligence could not be beaten anywhere throughout the American 
Colonies. It is beautiful today, nestled among great hills, its 
noble streets and stately elms sheltering homes of patriotic and 
God-fearing people. Sweet memories and beauties of the past 
and of the present justify me in calling Litchfield beautiful. 
Litchfield was my home for a month or more during the sum- 
mer of 1909, and I can never forget the kindly hospitality shown 
Mrs. Weeks and myself at that time. The executive office 
was located in yonder Court House and the good people made 
it comfortable and attractive for the executive. You will 
believe me when I say I am doubly pleased to be here today 
to add my voice to those who congratulate you on your 200th 
birthday. 

For two hundred years Litchfield was a shining star to 
the commonwealth. Litchfield— the home of Oliver Wolcott, 
Major Seymour, Henry Ward Beecher— Litchfield was second 
to none throughout the colonies. When the statue of the Eng- 
lish king was brought to Litchfield, the women of Litchfield 
with their own hands, made bullets from the melted lead. Their 
contribution was gladly received and we have no doubt the 
bullets did effective work. In looking up history we find the 
culture and refinement of the men and women of Litchfield 
unrivalled throughout the colony. 

I did not come here to give a history of the town of Litch- 



96 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

field. You all know that I came here rather to sing Litch- 
field's praises and to congratulate her most heartily and wish* 
for Litchfield and all within her borders a bright and pros- 
perous future. I thank you. 



ADDKESS BY FORMER CONGRESSMAN 
THOMAS L. REILLY. 

The Playhouse, August 2, 1920. 

Mr. Chairman, your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen: 

"Bold Wolcott urged the all-important cause; 
With steady hand the solemn scene he draws, 
Undaunted firmness with his wisdom joined; 
Nor kings nor worlds could warp his steadfast mind". 

The all-important cause that Oliver Wolcott, Litchfield's 
most illustrious son, urged one hundred fifty years ago, the 
cause of his country, — that is the all-important cause today. 
It is just as urgent now as it was then and the same steadfast- 
ness of purpose to uphold it must be shown now as then if 
the American form of government is to endure. And we must 
have no doubt when we talk about the American form of gov- 
ernment what Americanism is. Unfortunately, there are some 
people who believe that Americanism is a question of birth- 
place and lineage, that only those, perhaps, whose ancestors 
landed on Plymouth Rock have any right to be called Ameri- 
cans because they alone can realize what Americanism means. 
It is nothing of the sort. The kind of Americanism, the real 
Americanism, that the Wolcotts and the Beechers and the 
Seymours and the scores of other sons of Litchfield exemplified 
was not a matter of birthplace or descent. It was something 
that one feels deep down in his heart and has firmly fixed 
high up in his head. It is an undying, unfaltering, unshak- 
able belief in the principles in which this country was founded. 
It is unswerving devotion to that flag that has never known 
defeat because it never has floated for an unjust cause. It is 
observance and willingness to observe authority. It is will- 
ingness to make a sacrifice, the supreme sacrifice if necessary, 
in defence of the flag for the maintenance of laws or against 
any foe that may threaten. That is real Americanism. Those 
who have taken the oath of citizenship and have been true to 
that oath and those principles are Americans no matter where 



98 LITCHFIELD BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

their fathers or grandfathers were born. There are no hyph- 
ens in their Americanism. Hyphenated Americanism is a 
counterfeit and does not coincide with the foundation of this 
town, and counterfeit Americanism is as bad as counterfeit 
money. 

One reason for counterfeit Americanism is that many peo- 
ple have an idea in their heads that liberty, the pride and 
boast of America, means something else besides liberty. It 
means license under which they can do as they please, regard- 
less of law or interest of state, and the result is that too many 
latter-day Americans prize their liberty too cheaply. It never 
cost them one inconvenience even. It came to them as came 
their wealth — inherited — and they dissipated it without know- 
ing its priceless value because it cost them nothing. Liberty 
abides long only with those who are vigilant to guard it. Let 
us be vigilant. Let us resolve to safeguard that liberty in 
every way. We have no fault to find with the man born 
across the seas who comes here and has a warm spot for the 
land of his birth, but once he has taken the oath of citizen- 
ship he must in no degree allow that warm spot to divide his 
allegiance. He must not allow that warm spot for the old 
country to interfere with his obligations to the new country. 
When he is faithful to those new obligations only has he a 
right to the protection that this government extended to him 
when it wrapped him in sheltering arms. When he has been 
here long enough to take the oath of allegiance and then fails 
to live up to that oath, then he has been here long enough and 
there should be no hesitation in sending him back whence he 
came as unfitted to be protected by America. 

The pioneers, who two hundred years ago made from a 
wilderness this beautiful American town, did not build for 
themselves alone. They did not build this town for Americans 
who were merely born here. They builded it for Americans 
born everywhere who have taken the oath of citizenship and 
have lived in conformity to principles of American citizenship. 
They builded not alone for themselves but they builded for 
their children and their children's children, they established 
that foundation of just laws under which the fatherhood of God 
and the brotherhood of man might be realized. Let us foster 
that spirit in view of what this world has recently passed 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 99 

through, in view of the furnace of hate and strife. It may 
appear to some that talk of brotherhood is but an idle dream 
or vision, but it is not. This world cannot fail to be better 
because of its chastening. Those Litchfield boys, sons of the 
founders, those Litchfield boys, sons of adopted citizens, those 
brave American boys who lie under the poppies, are you 
going to make their death, their heroism vain by denying there 
is international brotherhood and that all talk about it is vision- 
ary and a dream? Let the vision of them who have sur- 
vived our heroic dead be that of a peace-blest land, safe for 
ages from foes within and without, its safety in the strength 
and loyalty of its citizens, of its manhood and of its woman- 
hood, its glory in the honor of its flag. 

"Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State! 

Sail on, O Union, strong and great! 

We know what master laid thy keel, 

What workmen wrought thy ribs of steel; 

Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea! 

Our hearts, our hopes are all with thee; 

Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears, 

Our faith triumphant o'er our fears, 

Are all with thee, are all with thee". 




•J 



u 



- 



OUR ANCESTORS. 

Address by Major John L. Gilson. (Second Company, 
Governors Foot Guard.) 

The Playhouse, August 2, 1920. 

Nothing can be more wholesome, — more fitting — than for 
all true Americans to contemplate studiously the lives of the 
builders of the republic and to pay to their memory on appro- 
priate occasions, the tributes of respect, of devotion and of 
gratitude their service and patriotism so worthily deserve. 

The place, the day and the occasion upon which we assem- 
ble, fill us with patriotic emotion. They are happily and 
appropriately united. This ancient and historic town is filled 
Avith hallowed memories, — for this day registers the two-hun- 
dredth anniversary of the coining of those sturdy, God-fearing 
founders, whom we today especially reverence, — under the lead- 
ership of the intrepid Captain John Marsh and the militant 
Deacon John Buel, — from Hartford, — from "Windsor, — from 
Wethersfield, — from Farmington, — all seeking the healthful 
skies and verdant fields of this charming garden-spot of the 
Berkshires. 

Theirs was the rigorous life of the pioneer, where every 
man provides for his own needs. Although filled with dis- 
comforts, it developed that splendid independence which comes 
only from being sufficient to your own needs. They held the 
strong untainted blood of a stalwart race, for generations 
fighting the arduous battle of existence against the wilderness 
and the savage. They loved liberty, religious and civil; they 
loved fireside and family and friends and country with an 
insuperable love; and they loved God. With astounding 
patience and unquestioned confidence they had abandoned 
almost everything else that the world values to worship God 
after their own fashion, yet they were among the first in all 
the world to establish religious toleration. 

They were poor — yet their poverty proved a real advantage. 
Most of the moral and intellectual giants of the universe have 
been nourished amid the struggling myriads of the poor. But 



102 LITCHFIELD BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

they possessed a tenacity of purpose, a lofty and inflexible 
courage, and an unbending will that never flinched, however 
harsh a problem presented itself, however keen the sorrow and 
suffering they encountered. What wonder then that these con- 
stant, courageous and reverent forbears brought forth sons 
who, — while enduring hardships, — could yet conceive and nour- 
ish the ideals and enthusiasms that inspired and energized 
them to reach for higher things, — and led these pioneer youths 
to feel that the day was approaching when to them should be 
addressed the stern admonition of the apostle, "Quit you like 
men, be strong!" 

On this festal day, then, from every quarter of the republic, 
the sons and daughters of old Litchfield gather in spirit around 
the old West Green, — their hearts filled with filial gratitude 
and affection, performing in fancy a pious pilgrimage, in sacred 
remembrance of the fortitude, the perseverance, the piety and 
the industry of the founders which laid for posterity the sure 
and permanent foundations for a free government. 

While I would not presume, — being all unworthy, — to enter 
into a history of these past two centuries, can we not together 
for the moment visualize, as in a magic mirror, a few of the 
greater events which have controlled the fortunes of those who 
have preceded us, and still in a measure influence our own, — 
as we gaze down the long corridors of the past upon the gener- 
ations that have gone forth from this lovely town? 

First of all must obtrude upon our vision the stalwart and 
fearless Ethan Allen, born in 1739 almost within sound of my 
voice. He remained in Litchfield County for thirty years before 
the trend of events inspired him, at the head of the Green 
Mountain Boys, who were raised by the aid of the Connecticut 
Assembly, to capture the Gibraltar of the North — Fort Ticon- 
deroga, — "in the name of the great Jehovah and the Continen- 
tal Congress". And one who even now inspects that apparently 
well-nigh impregnable fortress must be thrilled with patriotic 
fervor, when he realizes that only rash and reckless heroism 
could accomplish this seemingly impossible feat. 

Scarce a year elapses and we find him intrepid, undaunted, 
pressing forward to aid Montgomery in the attack upon Que- 
bec, with the Second Company of the Governor's Foot Guard 
of Connecticut, under the command of Benedict Arnold. 



LITCHFIELD BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 103 

From across the square yonder, within sight of this spot, 
had come too Aaron Burr, a student of the Litchfield Law 
School, founded and conducted by his brother-in-law— Tap- 
ping Reeve— in all the brilliant enthusiasm of youth. Fired 
with the patriotism engendered in the atmosphere of Litch- 
field, this fearless son of an illustrious president of Prince- 
ton, and grandson of a more illustrious son of Yale— in the 
after years a senator of the United States and its Vice-Presi- 
dent under the immortal Jefferson,— advanced to join Arnold 
at Boston as a sergeant in our own Second Company, and 
with him to make the toilsome journey to Quebec. Disguised 
as a priest, he as a spy penetrated through one hundred and 
twenty miles of the enemy British Lines, with indomitable 
courage and almost superhuman endeavor, to the headquarters 
of Montgomery, to announce the arrival of Arnold, and we 
of the Second Company, who eight years ago followed the 
identical trail of Arnold through the wilderness of the Maine 
and Canadian Woods can keenly appreciate the lion-hearted 
valor of this achievement. 

By some inscrutable mystery of Providence it was ordained 
that both of these brilliant patriots should die, disgraced and 
dishonored in alien lands, far from the country they in youth 
so nobly served. 

How refreshing to recall Ira Allen, brother of Ethan, 
Major-General of the forces of Vermont, through whose unsel- 
fish generosity and perseverance the great University of Ver- 
mont at Burlington was founded and established for all time, 
his gift of his entire fortune of Four Thousand Pounds,- 
during his lifetime — insuring its perpetuity. 

There still stands in stately dignity a noble dwelling, 
scarce a few rods from where we are now assembled, sturdily 
withstanding the shocks of more than a century and a half, 
dear forever to every loyal son of this Commonwealth. Here 
Oliver Wolcott, illustrious son of Yale, the first Sheriff of 
the County of Litchfield, of ever-living memory, first conceived 
and formulated the doctrine of our American Faith. That all 
men have certain inalienable rights; that there should be a 
complete separation between the. functions of Church and State- 
that all government derives its just powers from the consent 
of the governed; these fundamental principles of 1776 that 



104 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

even now every American is ready to maintain even to 
the supreme sacrifice against all the alien world, he had 
the courage and the valor, putting everything at hazard for 
his Country's cause, to subscribe to when he signed for Con- 
necticut the Declaration of Independence. 

A member of the Continental Congress, Major-General in 
defence of New York City in 1776, and later in the campaign 
against Burgoyne, Commander-in-Chief of the forces against 
the British invasion of Connecticut in 1779, First United States 
Commissioner of Indian Affairs, he ended a brilliant and dis- 
tinguished career by his death while Governor of Connecticut. 
And no son of New England can forget how, in this very house, 
a devoted and patriotic wife and daughter — and oh! how 
proud old Litchfield should be of these splendid fearless women, 
— melted into bullets for the American Army the leaden statue 
of that bigot and tryant, George III, erected in Bowling Green, 
New York City, in 1770 and torn down by its citizens on July 
9th, 1776, when it was cut up and taken to Litchfield. 

Here too, in this spacious homestead, was born that worthy 
son of a sire endowed with such extraordinary^ genius and 
patriotism, Oliver Wolcott, Jr., who upon his graduation from 
Yale entered into public life as a militant champion of the 
rights and prerogatives of Connecticut, and wdio succeeded 
Alexander Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasury, — became 
the first Justice of the Circuit Court of the United States for 
New York, Connecticut and Vermont and resigned to accept 
the Governorship of his native State, which distinction he 
tells us was prized as the highest honor that could come to 
him. 

The world-famous Litchfield Law Shool, the first insti- 
tution of its kind in all America, was established in 17S4 
by Judge Tapping Reeve, who had married the only sis- 
ter of Aaron Burr, she being a grand-daughter of our own 
Jonathan Edwards, distinguished divine, and the first chaplain 
of the Second Company Governor's Foot Guard, who, as all of 
the members of the Second Company know, delivered the now 
famous address to the Command, prior to its departure to 
Cambridge with Arnold in 1775. 

We have re-visited this morning the old historic structure, 
preserved with kindly care by the citizens of Litchfield. How 







o 



u 



to 



H 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 105 

ennobling, — how inspiring to read inscribed high upon the 
scroll of the thousands of its students such patriots as the bril- 
liant John C. Calhoun, — Levi Woodbury, Senator of the Uni- 
ted States from New Hampshire, Secretary of the Navy, Sec- 
retary of the Treasury and a Justice of the Supreme Court of 
the United States, — John Y. Mason and John M. Clayton, Cabi- 
net Members and illustrious jurists, — our own Henry Baldwin, 
a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States in 1S30, — 
who could undertake in these few moments to enumerate the 
distinguished leaders of the Bench and Bar of the Republic, 
who here were trained in the first principles of jurisprudence 
and patriotism? Who, among the glorious hills of old Litch- 
field, engendered an invincible confidence in the truth of those 
principles in which the foundation of the Kepublic had been 
laid, and acquired too, with these very principles of juris- 
prudence and practice, an unselfish purpose to maintain them, 
despite the perils, grave and portentous, that confronted them. 

In 1792, another pioneer, imbued with the identical senti- 
ments of militant progress displayed by its founders brought 
Litchfield into conspicuous prominence before the eyes of 
the citizens of the new Republic by her first successful efforts 
toward the higher education of women, and for many years 
Sarah Pierce dominated by her influential and remarkable 
career this field in all the United States. Among the prominent 
Alumnae Ave find Harriet Beecher Stowe, Mrs. Marshall O. 
Koberts, Mrs. Cyrus W. Field, Mrs. Hugh MacCulloch and an 
unnumbered host of women of high influence in the land. Could 
we but reproduce in our mirror of fancy the scene, the sur- 
roundings, the situation of a hundred years ago in this stately 
village, — the charm, the certain stateliness in the air, the cer- 
tain ceremoniousness in the manners, all long since changed 
and banished, it would afford an ever unending delight; it all 
made a tremendous force for good, — for character so fine and 
high and pure, that we even now involuntarily pay homage 
to the approval it so richly merits. 

I have referred to Harriet Beecher Stowe, Litchfield's most 
illustrious daughter, who was here prepared for the great 
work which came to her as a religious message which she 
must deliver. The publication of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was 
a compelling factor which ever must be reckoned in summing 



106 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

up the moving causes of the war for the Union. My mother, 
who as a young girl in Hartford knew her somewhat intimately, 
has so often described her pleasant manners, her quaint man- 
nerisms, her charming personality and her delightful and naive 
conversation, that I can ever visualize her life here in the 
quiet atmosphere of the hills. 

When Lyman Beecher, her father, born in New Haven 
in the same year and almost on the same day that marked the 
organization of our Foot Guard, came here to Litchfield as 
pastor of the historic First Congregational Church, this ven- 
erable town received a preacher whom Yale regarded as pos- 
sessing the most magnetic personality, as one endowed with the 
most incisive skill and with the most powerful manner of 
expression, — iif short the most eloquent of all her pulpit ora- 
tors. Four daughters and seven sons, the latter all becoming 
Congregational Clergymen, were born to this talented divine, 
foremost among the theologians of his day. His eighth child, 
Henry Ward Beecher, became by his mastery of the English 
tongue, by his dramatic power, by his art of impersonation, 
by his breadth of intellectual view, by his passionate enthusi- 
asm, — a preacher without a peer in his own time and country. 

I must not unduly trespass upon your patience, but I can- 
not, even in this brief recital, forbear repeating a paragraph 
from the world-famed sermon of Wendell Phillips, the most 
talented of all Abolitionist orators, — delivered in Plymouth 
Church in Brooklyn, while John Brown was awaiting his trial 
in Virginia. "Connecticut has sent out many a schoolmaster 
of the other thirty states, but never before so grand a teacher 
as that Litchfield-born schoolmaster at Harper's Ferry, writ- 
ing upon the Natural Bridge in the face of Nations his simple 
copy, 

'Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God' ". 

Proud and glorious old Litchfield! Still true to all the 
noblest memories of the past; still worthy after the lapse of 
two centuries of all the honors and lofty traditions of thy 
ancestors ! Would that they might, on this festal day, through 
some magic alchemy, be permitted to behold the consummation 
of their own work in the stability of our government, forever 
upheld by the loyalty and patriotism of its citizenry. In this 
calm atmosphere of tranquility, recollections of their early 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 107 

life come flooding back to arouse a nameless responsive thrill 
of something deep within us. Like morning mists on its own 
immovable mountains cling magic memories of Litchfield of 
the Revolution, raising a throb in every heart that loves lib- 
erty, — rekindling the fires of patriotism in our own breasts, 
engendering never ceasing admiration of its splendid exem- 
plification in the lives of the patriots. 

We, the sons of this grand old Commonwealth of Connecti- 
cut of the present generation, fondly nourishing these ideals 
and traditions, must bear too the solemn obligations and 
responsibilities which devolve upon us as a sacred heritage. 
Their great work of helping to establish for all time a free 
nation, — of wresting the independence of the Republic from the 
power of princes and kings, by them so nobly consummated, 
must by us be defended and preserved forever. 

Inspired and sustained by their precepts and accomplish- 
ments, let us calmly look into the future "with fearless and 
eager eyes, rejoicing as a strong man to run a race, challenging 
the proud privilege of doing the work Providence shall allot 
to us, — facing the coming years high of heart and resolute of 
faith". Let us recall the admonition of the greatest Ameri- 
can of our generation. "The century looms before us, big 
with the fate of many nations. If we stand idly by, — if we 
seek merely swollen slothful ease and ignoble peace, — if we 
shrink from the hard contests where men must win at hazard 
of their lives and at the risk of all they hold dear, then the 
bolder and the stronger peoples will pass us by and will win 
for themselves the domination of the world. Let us therefore 
boldly face the life of strife, resolute to do our duty well and 
manfully; resolute to uphold righteousness by deed and by 
word; resolute to be both honest and brave — to serve high 
ideals, yet to use practical methods. Above all let us shrink 
from no strife, moral or physical, within or without the nation, 
provided we are certain that the strife is justified, — for it is 
only through strife, through hard and dangerous endeavor, 
that we shall ultimately win the goal of true national great 
ness". 

In the discharge of this sacred trust, how refreshing, — 
how ennobling, — how energizing, — how inspiring — is a 



108 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

contemplation of the lives of the Litchfield Founders, Pioneers 
and Patriots! 

Mr. Chairman, your Excellency, distinguished guests, ladies 
and gentlemen: I have the honor of pledging you, — in reverent 
fancy, a toast: 

''The immortal memory of the Founders of Litchfield!" 



THE BEECHER FAMILY. 
Address by Lyman Beecher Stowe, Esq. 
Congregational Church, August 2, 1920. 

Ladies and Gentlemen: 

I feel like very much of an impostor, for my ancestors did 
not come here until one hundred years later than the ancestors 
of your chairman. 

It is a saying that New England was inhabited by saints, 
sinners, and Beechers. That saying has always pleased me 
because it indicates that the contemporaries of my ancestors 
must be neither saints nor sinners. Whenever I am called 
upon to represent this once numerous and powerful family, 
powerful in physique, powerful in brain, powerful in spiritu- 
ality, powerful in everything but finances and always far from 
powerful in that respect, I am reminded of an episode in the 
life of Charles Stowe when he was pastor of the First Con- 
gregational Church in the town of Salisbury. It became his 
duty to visit his parishioners and it was his function to find 
whether the people had Bibles. If he found that they had 
none, he was to sell them one if he could, and if they were 
in such poverty that he could not, he was to give them one. 
He went to a cottage where he found a woman scrubbing the 
cottage floor. "Got a Bible in the family?'' he asked. ''What 
do you think Ave are, heathens?" the woman snapped. He called 
to the children and said, "Go into the parlor and bring out the 
Bible and show it to me". They returned with one hundred 
leaves of worn parchment adhering to the back. "I declare, 
I didn't know we were so near out'', the woman remarked, as 
she glanced up from her work. 

It/ is a greatly over-rated privilege to possess famous 
ancestors. I have found in my experience that whenever I do 
anything creditable they get all the credit for it; when I do 
anything discreditable I get all the blame for it. 

This powerful and numerous family is identified with vari- 
ous spots in New England, among them Brunswick, Maine; 
Andover, Mass.; Boston; Hartford, Conn; but first and fore- 



110 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

most this beautiful town whose 200th anniversary we are cele- 
brating. 

Theodore Parker once remarked that Dr. Lyman Beecher 
was the father of more brains than any other man in America. 
If that were true, and if we believe, as I suppose we do, that 
environment plays an equal part with heredity, we must credit 
to this beautiful town an equal share with the blood for that 
successful result. 

Dr. Beecher had eleven children who grew to maturity. 
Of those eleven children two became famous and all the rest 
became more or less distinguished. They were all of great 
physical strength. I do not believe that any amount of mental 
equipment would have enabled them to do what they did with- 
out that physical strength. Physical strength is almost an 
inevitable heritage of the life they led in Litchfield. It is almost 
impossible for people to grow up in Litchfield and not have 
physical strength. Another heritage carried through life was a 
love of nature. There, again, I do not see how they could avoid 
a knowledge of nature in these beautiful hills. Another 
quality they carried through life was an unquenchable thirst 
for knowledge and for power. I attribute it, in a large part, 
to the splendid educational advantages they had in Litchfield. 
Particularly in the case of Henry Ward Beecher, I attribute 
it to Miss Sarah Pierce and her associate, James Pierce 
Brace. I am interested in schools. I am impressed that Miss 
Pierce and Mr. Brace employed methods that we are now 
pleased to call modern. 

Another characteristic in the lives of those eleven Beechers 
was their appreciation of all the best in life in the way of 
books, pictures, scenery, good company and conversation. That, 
it seems to me, was largely the result of the influence of the 
society of Litchfield, which was undoubtedly as good as any 
in America, if not the best. You know better than I do the 
names of some of the leaders of that rich society — Governor 
Wolcott, in Washington's Cabinet; Tallmadge, one of Wash- 
ington's favorite officers; Judge Beeve, founder and head of 
the Litchfield Law School, and his associate, Judge Gould; 
John Pierpont, the poet, to mention only a few of the great 
Litchfielders. 

I thought it might not be inappropriate if on this occa- 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 111 

sion I read to you an extract from the Life and Letters of 
Harriet Beecher Stowe. 

"My earliest recollections of Litchfield are those of its 
beautiful scenery, which impressed and formed my mind long 
before I had words to give names to my emotions, or could 
analyze my mental processes. I remember standing often in 
the door of our house and looking over a distant horizon, 
where Mount Tom reared its round blue head against the 
sky, and the Great and Little Ponds, as they were called, 
gleamed out amid a steel-blue sea of distant pine groves. To 
the west of us rose a smooth-bosomed hill called Prospect 
Hill; and many a pensive, wondering hour have I sat at our 
play-room window, watching the glory of the wonderful sun- 
sets that used to burn themselves out, amid voluminous 
wreathings, or castellated turrets of clouds, — vaporous page- 
antry proper to a mountainous region. 

"Litchfield sunsets were famous, because perhaps watched 
by more appreciative and intelligent eyes than the sunsets 
of other mountain towns around. The love and notice of 
nature was a custom and habit of the Litchfield people; and 
always of a summer evening the way to Prospect Hill was 
dotted with parties of strollers who went up thither to enjoy 
the evening. 

"On the east of us lay another upland, called Chestnut 
Hills, whose sides were wooded with a rich growth of forest- 
trees; whose changes of tint and verdure, from the first misty 
tints of spring green, through the deepening hues of summer, 
into the rainbow glories of autumn, was a subject of constant 
remark and of pensive contemplation to us children. We 
heard them spoken of by older people, pointed out to visitors, 
and came to take pride in them as a sort of birthright. 

"Seated on the rough granite flag-steps of the east front 
door with some favorite book, — if by chance we could find 
such a treasure, — the book often fell from the hand while the 
eyes wandered far off into those soft woody depths with end- 
less longings and dreams, — dreams of all those wild fruits, 
and flowers, and sylvan treasures which some Saturday after- 
noon's ramble had shown us lay sheltered in those enchanted 
depths. There were the crisp apples of the pink azalea, — 
honeysuckle apples we called them; there were scarlet winter- 



112 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

green berries; there were pink shell blossoms of trailing 
arbutus, and feathers of ground pine; there were blue, and 
white, and yellow violets, and crowsfoot, and bloodroot, and 
wild anemone, and other quaint forest treasures. 

"Between us and those woods lay the Bantam River, — a 
small, clear rocky stream, pursuing its way through grooves 
of pine and birch, now so shallow that we could easily ford 
it by stepping from stone to stone, and again, in spots, so 
deep and wide as to afford bathing and swimming room for 
the young men and boys of the place. Many and many a 
happy hour we wandered up and down its tangled, rocky, and 
ever-changing banks, or sat under a thick pine bower, on a 
great granite slab called Solitary Rock, round which the 
clear brown waters gurgled. 

"At the north of the house the horizon was closed in with 
distant groves of chestnut and hickory, whose waving tops 
seemed to have mysteries of invitation and promise t<; our 
childhood. I had read, in a chance volume of Gesner's 'Idyls,' 
of tufted groves, where were altars to Apollo, and where 
white-robed shepherds played on ivory flutes, and shepherd- 
esses brought garlands to hang round the shrines, and for a 
long time I nourished a shadowy impression that, could I 
get into those distant northern groves, some of these dreams 
would be realized. These fairy visions were, alas! all dis- 
solved by an actual permission to make a Saturday after- 
noon's excursion in these very groves, which were found to 
be used as goose-pastures, and to be destitute of the flowery 
treasures of the Chestnut Hills forests. 

"My father was fond of excursions with his boys into 
the forests about for fishing and hunting. At first I remem- 
ber these only as something pertaining to father and the older 
boys, they being the rewards given for good conduct. I 
remember the regretful interest with which I watched their 
joyful preparations for departure. They were going to the 
Great Pond — to Pine Island — to that wonderful blue pine for- 
est which I could just see on the horizon, and who knew what 
adventures they might meet! Then the house all day was so 
still; no tramping of laughing, wrestling boys, — no singing 
and shouting; and perhaps only a long seam on a sheet to be 
oversewed as the sole means of beguiling the hours of absence. 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 113 

And then dark night would come down, and stars look out 
from the curtains, and innuendoes would be thrown out of 
children being sent to bed, and my heart would be rent with 
anguish at the idea of being sent off before the eventful expe- 
dition had reported itself. And then what joy to hear at a 
distance the tramp of feet, the shouts and laughs of older 
brothers; and what glad triumph when the successful party 
burst into the kitchen with long strings of perch, roach, pick- 
erel, and bullheads, with waving blades of sweet-flag, and 
high heads of cat-tail, and pockets full of young wintergreen, 
of which a generous portion was bestowed always upon me. 
These were the trophies, to my eyes, brought from the land 
of enchantment. And then what cheerful hurrying and scur- 
rying to and fro, and waving of lights, and what cleaning 
of fish in the back shed, and what calling for frying-pan and 
gridiron, over which father solemnly presided ; for to his latest 
day he held the opinion that no feminine hand could broil 
or fry fish with that perfection of skill which belonged to him- 
self alone, as king of woodcraft and woodland cookery. 

"I was always safe against being sent to bed for a happy 
hour or two, and patronized with many a morsel of the sup- 
per which followed, as father and brothers were generally 
too flushed with victory to regard very strictly dull household 
rules. 

"Somewhat later, I remember, were the expeditions for 
chestnuts and walnuts in the autumn, to which all we young- 
sters were taken. I remember the indiscriminate levy which 
on such occasions was made on every basket the house con- 
tained, which, in the anticipated certainty of a great harvest 
to bring home, were thought to be only too few. I recollect 
the dismay with which our second mother, the most ladylike 
and orderly of housekeepers, once contemplated the results 
of these proceedings in her well arranged linen-room, where 
the contents of stocking baskets, patch baskets, linen baskets, 
yarn baskets, and thread baskets were all pitched into a pro- 
miscuous heap by that omnipotent marauder, Mr. Beecher, 
who had accomplished all this confusion with the simple 
promise to bring the baskets home full of chestnuts. 

"What fun it was, in those golden October days, when 
father dared William and Edward to climb higher than he 



114 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

could, and shake down the glossy chestnuts! To the very- 
last of his life, he was fond of narrating an exploit of his 
climbing a chestnut-tree that grew up fifty feet without 
branches slantwise over a precipice, and then whirling him- 
self over the abyss to beat down the chestnuts for the children 
below. 'That was a thing', he said, 'that I wouldn't let any 
of the boys do'. And those chestnuts were had in everlasting 
remembrance, I verily believe that he valued himself more 
on some of these exploits than even his best sermons. 

"My father was famous for his power of exciting family 
enthusiasm. Whenever he had a point to carry or work to 
be done, he would work the whole family up to a pitch of 
fervent zeal, in which the strength of each one seemed quad- 
rupled. For instance: the wood of the family used to be 
brought in winter on sleds, and piled up in the yard, exactly 
over the spot where father wished in early spring to fix his 
cucumber and melon frames; for he always made it a point 
to have cucumbers as soon as Dr. Taylor, who lived in New 
Haven, and had much warmer and drier land; and he did 
it by dint of contrivance and cucumber frames, as aforesaid. 
Of course, as all this wood was to be cut, split, and carried 
into the wood-house before an early garden could be started, 
it required a miracle of generalship to get it done, considering 
the immense quantity required in that climate to keep an old 
windy castle of a house comfortable. How the axes rung, 
and the chips flew, and the jokes and stories flew faster; and 
when all was cut and split, then came the great work of 
wheeling in and piling; and then I, sole little girl among so 
many boys, was sucked into the vortex of enthusiasm by 
father's well-pointed declaration that he 'wished Harriet was 
a boy, she would do more than any of them'. 

"I remember putting on a little black coat which I 
thought looked more like the boys, casting needle and thread 
to the wind, and working almost like one possessed for a day 
and a half, till in the afternoon the wood was all in and 
piled, and the chips swept up. Then father tackled the 
horse into the cart, and proclaimed a grand fishing party 
down to Little Pond. And how we all floated among the lily- 
pads in our boat, christened 'The Yellow Perch', and every 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 115 

one of us caught a string of fish, which we displayed in tri- 
umph on our return". 

I think this extract bears out what I said about the part 
Litchfield played in forming the character of this family. 

Over in Stockbridge, Mass., I have two small boys grow- 
ing up, the elder of whom is named David Beecher, named 
after the learned blacksmith of New Haven, who was the 
father of Lyman Beecher, and if the environment of Stock- 
bridge shall prove as stimulating in affecting the lives of those 
boys as the environment of Litchfield was in forming the char- 
acters of their ancestors, I may enjoy the delight of remarking 
that genius skips a generation. 



ADDRESS BY UNITED STATES SENATOR 
FRANK B. BRANDEGEE 

Congregational Church, August 2, 1920. 
Ladies and Gentlemen: 

It is with deep pleasure that I have come up here today 
to join with you in celebrating your 200th anniversary. I 
come from what is known as "Old Whaling Town", New Lon- 
don by the sea, called by the Colonists, "Ye Fair Harbor", and 
more than twenty years ago we celebrated our 250th anniver- 
sary, for, as you know, that town was founded by John Win- 
throp, the younger, in 1645. 

One of the particularly gratifying things to my mind about 
this grand little state of Connecticut is that it is composed of 
168 different towns, each of which is of itself a little republic 
within itself. Connecticut has always stuck to the system of 
local town government; and, I think, there may be traced to 
the business sense, the local contests and the meeting of the 
people in the local town meetings, the great capacity for self- 
government which Connecticut and its towns have always 
shown and the great influence upon the life of the nation which 
its men have always exercised. 

We read in the histories that along about 1631, an old 
Indian from Connecticut appeared in Massachusetts and went 
to the Governors of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay Colonies 
and told them of the beauties of the great valley along the 
Connecticut river and tried to get them interested in sending 
colonists down here, as he wanted their assistance in his Avar 
against other Indian tribes. The Governor thought it over 
for a year or so and he finally decided to make the expedition 
and to explore the land. They did so, and you all know how the 
three towns of Wethersfield, Windsor and Hartford evoluted 
from that old Indian and later how the State of Connecticut 
was formed. I shall always feel a great deal of gratitude to 
that old Indian, no matter what his motives were. It is 
fitting that our minds should turn back to the origin of things, 
for it is absolutely true that in order to understand a work in 



118 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

progress of completion one must go back to the beginnings of 
things and follow the evolution down through. 

It was due to Connecticut that we were able to form the 
Union at all. It was the Connecticut Compromise which 
suggested the way out of the solution to the attending dele- 
gates. In the wise provision it was agreed by unanimous vote 
that no matter how small a state was it should never be 
deprived of a place in the Senate. 

But I say to you that in this old State, one of the original 
thirteen, now about 300 years since its founding, is and will 
continue to be one glorious succession of days such as you are 
here to celebrate. People, as never before, are studying this 
past history. During the Civil War we had in the governor- 
ship William Buckingham. Then came this great war, beyond 
comparison with anything in history; we have with us today 
our War Governor, Marcus H. Holcomb, also Governor Weeks, 
and that grand old gentleman, Simeon Baldwin. 

Speaking of the value of history to guide our steps in the 
future so as to be able to hand down to posterity; I suggest to 
Governor Baldwin, the sage of Connecticut, that he, with his 
vast learning, his wonderful grasping of law, jurisprudence 
and history, should dedicate the remaining years of his life 
to the preparation of a history of Connecticut to hand down 
to our children forever and as a memorial to him. Some of 
my Bepublican friends used to make that suggestion to the 
Governor when he was in the Governor's chair, and to suggest 
that his real mission was to write a history of Connecticut. 
It would be, in my opinion, a calamity to the patriotic people 
of Connecticut if the information which is stored in that mar- 
velous brain should not be committed to manuscript for the 
benefit of posterity. 

This County has always laid close to my heart. There is 
something about its rugged hills and the rugged character of 
its people that has always attracted me. I know that the 
great Senator who preceded me was a product of this County, 
and evidenced it in his great ability. 

This State has practically existed in its present form for 
300 years. We are apt to look at a house and call it an 
antique. We are apt to think 300 years is a great period of 
time. Well, it is longer than the brief span of one's life, but 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 119 

what does it amount to after all to think that 300 years ago 
this state, with its great population, with its good roads weav- 
ing in and out everywhere, its steam railroads, great buildings, 
to think that this state only 300 years ago was a wilderness 
inhabited by savage men and savage animals, and to think 
this has taken place in 300 years is amazing. Three hundred 
years is only four lives and that length brings you back to 
the time that Thomas Hooker left Massachusetts and came 
here to form a new commonwealth. 

What is going to happen to this country in the future stag- 
gers the imagination to attempt to conceive. What will this 
country do in the next five hundred years? I will tell you 
one thing. Even if this country proceeds according to the 
law of God, and its people continue tolerant with each other 
and doing and exacting justice, it will never reach such a period 
in the next five hundred years of posterity as it has in this. 
We must keep alive the feelings of liberty. How best to do 
that? The way to Americanize the youth of this country is 
to concentrate upon their attention the works of those who 
have gone before them. If every school, church and home 
would teach their youth to imitate those illustrious examples 
of our ancestors, that would determine what kind of Ameri- 
cans our future Americans will be. 

It has been one of the delights of my summer to be with 
you, and I thank you for your earnest attention. 



ADDRESS BY CONGRESSMAN JAMES T. GLYNN. 
Congregational Church, August 2, 1920. 

Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen: 

It is certainly a pleasure to be here to assist in an humble 
way in celebrating this 200th anniversary of the settlement 
of Litchfield. If there is a town in the United States which 
has had a more interesting history for the past 200 years than 
Litchfield, I don't happen to know that place, and as I rode 
around today and someone in the car would point, why, "There 
is Governor Wolcott's house, who was a signer of the Declara- 
tion of Independence"; "Statue of George III, taken out in the 
back yard and melted into bullets"; again, "There is the site 
of the First Law School in America"; and again, "There is the 
site of the first institution for the higher education of women 
which was started in the United States". It seemed as if 
almost every house we passed was the home of a Governor, 
a signer of the Declaration, Chief Justice of the State, — one 
house was the home of a man who was appointed Secretary 
of the Treasury to succeed Hamilton. I said, "This is an 
historic town". It reminded me of a talk I once had with 
a loyal son of Litchfield, Charles B. Andrews. I had occa- 
sion to come down here and with him was discussing the his- 
tory of Litchfield. I regarded Litchfield as interesting a town 
as any in Connecticut. He said, "Litchfield is as interesting a 
town as you will find in the United States. Where will you 
find one to compare with it?" 

Oliver Wolcott was an active man before and after the 
Revolution. While they were holding tea parties in Boston 
they were doing the same thing here in Litchfield. We find 
that town meetings were held in Litchfield to raise money to 
aid the starving people. 

You talk about Boston being the Cradle of Liberty. I 
say Litchfield is as much a Cradle of Liberty as is Boston. 
Today has impressed upon me what Litchfield has been. Litch- 
field is one of those towns which is responsible in a great 
measure for what we call today "American Spirit"— a spirit. 



122 LITCHFIELD BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

which stands for something, the kind of a spirit which inspired 
resistance to the Stamp Tax, resistance to foreign tyranny, 
the spirit which inspired the patriots at Concord, at Saratoga, 
and at Yorktown, the spirit which builded broad and deep 
the foundations of this Republic, and erected that noble struc- 
ture which, please God, will endure forever. 

Litchfield is responsible for a spirit of antagonism to 
slavery. No family in this land, no single persons, did more 
to arouse a spirit of antagonism to human slavery than Har- 
riet Beecher Stowe and her distinguished brother, Henry "Ward 
Beecher. That was the spirit which sent the best of our 
young men from off these New England hills in the decade 
preceding the Civil War, the men who went out with a Bible 
in one hand and a rifle in the other, and though every hour 
might be beckoning danger they must do, and die if necessary, 
to snatch Kansas and Nebraska from being polluted with 
slavery, — and the town of Litchfield contributed to that spirit 
as much as any town in America. 

I like the Litchfield way of celebrating. It was said of 
Dean Swift that he celebrated his birthday by cursing the day 
he was born. It is strange, it is rather fitting, that as the 
dark days of "61 drew on to '65, the Litchfield County Regiment 
pitched its camp on the Litchfield Hill, because here was the 
spirit of Litchfield, the spirit of patriotism, the! spirit of 
freedom. And so it was in the present war. That kind of 
spirit sent our boys across the sea into the trenches. That 
is what we mean by the American Spirit and Litchfield was 
in a large way responsible in forming it. It is the kind of 
a spirit we need today as much as ever. 

Sometimes progress has come by leaps and bounds, as 
when is born some inspired man such as Abraham Lincoln. 
Sometimes progress stands still, or rolls backward towards 
barbarism because of a lack of strength to push that car of 
progress up the rugged hill. Let us leave the future of this 
country here safe! Let us, as far as we can, emulate that 
spirit of old Litchfield which has steered through its course 
in all crises and through all the dreary watches of the night. 




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OFFICIAL PROGRAM 

TUESDAY, AUGUST THIRD. 

County Day 

12 m. — Parade starts from Playhouse and line of march 
same as on Tuesday. Composition as follows: 

Marshal, Major Jackson, and aides. 

E. P. Dickinson, born January 4th, 1821, oldest resident 
of Litchfield, in automobile. 

The Selectmen of the towns of Litchfield, New Hartford, 
New Milford, Salisbury, Thomaston, Torrington, Winchester, 
in automobiles; Band of 2nd Co., G. F. G, Morgan-Weir Post, 
American Legion, Litchfield Fire Department, Boy Scouts, Girl 
Scouts, Mary Floyd Tallmadge Chapter, D. A. R; Bantam 
Ball Bearing Co., Litchfield Chemical Engine, Bantam Fire 
Truck, Gartland's 23rd Regiment Band, Waterwitch Hose Co., 
No. 2, New Milford; Canaan Fire Company, Winsted Drum 
Corps, Winsted Fire Department, Kent Fire Department, Man- 
chester Bag Pipe Band, Terry ville Fire Department, Nauga- 
tuck Hose, Hook and Ladder Co.; Litchfield Grange, No. 107, 
Beacon Grange (Northfield) No. US, Bridgewater Grange, No. 
153; Cornwall Grange, No. 32; East Canaan Grange, No. 136; 
Goshen Grange, No. 143; Morris Grange, No. 119; Washington 
Grange, No. 11. 

3:00 p. m.— Athletic Field, Locust Knoll. Baseball — 
New Milford vs. Litchfield. 



OFFICIAL PROGRAM 

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST FOURTH 

Litchfield Day 

11:00 a. m. — Playhouse — Historical Address, Hon. Morris 
W. Seymour, read by Origen S. Seymour. 

12:30 p m. — Community Picnic Lunch, West Park. 

2:00 p. m— Concert— West Park, Band 2nd Co., G. F. G. 

4:00 p. m. — Historic Masque, Golf Grounds, Country Club. 

9:00 p. m. — Community Dance Telford road, West street, 
From Marcy Block to Playhouse. 



HISTORIC LITCHFIELD. 

Address by the Hon. Morris W. Seymour, LLD- 
(Read by Origen S. Seymour, Esq.) 

The Playhouse, August 4, 1920. 

"Let us now Praise Famous Men — 
Our Fathers that begat us." 

— Ecclus:44;l. 

Fellow Citizens, Ladies and Gentlemen: 

An attempt to epitomize the events of two hundred years 
in an hour's time is no easy task in any circumstances. It 
becomes doubly difficult when those years are filled with the 
stirring events that have marked the history of this community. 
I do not hesitate to say that no town of an equal number of 
inhabitants in this or any other country has played so con- 
spicuous a part in the affairs of a state or nation as has the 
town whose two hundredth birthday we celebrate. Its very 
conception originated in a historic tragedy. Years before 
the settlement of the town, our State officials became convinced 
of the hostility of the English Government and its determina- 
tion to revoke our charter. To frustrate this design, in part, 
and to prevent the "Western Lands", as they were called, 
which embraced the territory of this town — in the words of the 
enactment — "From falling into the grasp of Sir Edmund 
Andros and permitting him to enrich himself and his minions", 
the Legislature, on January 26, 1686, ordered the sale of those 
lands to the Towns of Hartford and Windsor. A few years 
later, there dropped from our Royal Oak, in whose bosom 
safely lay concealed our hidden charter, an acorn, which by 
reason of this action of the legislature, sprouted and blossomed 
forth as the Patent of this Town. 

A company was organized in 1718, upon the petition of 
Lieutenant John Marsh and Deacon John Buel, and they, 
with others, were incorporated by the General Assembly at its 
May Session, 1719, to settle a town called Litchfield on the 
"Western Lands" at Bantam. These original settlers were 



128 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

residents of and men of affairs in the Towns of Wetkersfield, 
Hartford, Windsor, Lebanon and Farmington. 

Among the list of settlers appear names that we. hear 
uttered almost daily in our streets and today are fortunate 
to have some of their descendants still with us — Marsh, Buel, 
Woodruff, Webster, Griswold, Gibbs, Stoddard, Sanford and 
many others. 

The plan of the village has never been materially changed. 
The settlers who had the first choice selected the southern 
portion of the town along the Bantam River and Little Pond, 
presumably because of the natural meadows which gave them 
hay for their cattle without waiting the slow process of clear- 
ing the land, — the first pitch w r as the upper corner of Soutli 
Street and Gallows Lane (then called Middle Street). 

Following the usual custom of our Puritan forefathers, 
the original proprietors built a church and then a school 
house. From those two sources, — that church and that 
school — it is not claiming too much to say there emanated two 
of the greatest reforms the world has ever known. The tem- 
perance movement, which has culminated in the enactment of 
the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and which has 
now been declared by the Supreme Court at Washington a 
binding feature throughout the length and breadth of our land, 
seems to have been initiated here. 

It has been stated that the very first Temperance Society 
in the world originated in an organization in Litchfield by 
an association of our citizens in May, 1789, and a quite thorough 
examination of the subject would seem to verify the truth of 
this statement. There certainly was a noble collection of 
gentlemen here at that time who did all they could to push 
forward the temperance reform. 

The splendid results did not fully appear until the settle- 
ment of Dr. Lyman Beecher who — though his attack in the 
first instance was from a different angle, and directed toward 
the clergymen themselves — did perhaps for that very reason the 
most effective work. Dr. Beecher's attention was first called 
to the temperance question through his attendance on the Con- 
vocation of Ministers at the adjoining towns of Plymouth and 
Sharon. He was shocked both at the amount of liquor con- 
sumed and its effect on the ministers themselves. It w T as his 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 129 

fervent zeal, his sermons and advocacy of the cause that 
resulted in the abolition of liquor in ministerial circles, and 
called the attention of good citizens the Avorld over to the evils 
of intemperance. The Massachusetts Temperance Society ., 
one of the best conducted and strongest in the country, is said 
to have been the direct result of this Litchfield movement, 
having been incorporated just a year after Dr. Beecher's 
philippic. Among the many lessons of the late Avar, none 
have impressed the people more than that in a certain sense 
we are our brother's keeper,— that rum and thrift do not 
travel together — that "Dutch" courage cannot compare with 
moral courage Think of this, my fellow-citizens! Within 
the records of yonder Court House there is a receipt showing 
that my own grandfather — when High Sheriff of this county 
— purchased with the money of the State seven gallons of rum 
for the refreshment of five of the highest judicial officers of 
the State during five days' session of the Court of Errors! 
More than a quart per judge per day! Is it to be wondered 
at that some of their opinions at times seemed muddled? 

The second great reform which emanated from this town 
and church, the schools established here, and the pure air of 
freedom which Ave breathe, was the doom of slavery, which 
Avas sounded when Harriet Beecher Stowe Avrote "Uncle Tom's 
Cabin". John Brown was born just over the line in Torring- 
ton in 1800, — no great distance from the Beecher Homestead. 
A man Avith a modern rifle, standing on the Grant farm, could 
have hit either the Beecher Homestead or the John BroAvn 
birthplace. In the words of Oliver Wendell Holmes: 

••All through the conflict up and down, 

Marched Uncle Tom and old John Bioavu, 

One ghost, one form ideal; 

And which Avas false and Avhich Avas true, 

And which was mightier of the tAvo. 

The wisest sibyl never kneAV, 

For both alike were real". 

The croAA r ning victory of our Civil War will ever link the 
shores of the Appomattox with the Hills of Litchfield,— and 
to make the chain stronger, General Grant, though not born 



130 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

hero, was descended from, a family that for many years lived 
in and took a great interest in the affairs of this town. 

Fortunately for me, the history of the Litchfield Law 
School has been brought before you by a man we all honor 
and who did ample justice to the subject, but, as a loyal son 
of Litchfield and a lawyer, I am proud of the fact and wish 
no one to forget that here was established and carried on for 
many years not only the first law school in the English-speak- 
ing world, but one that has for all time impressed its methods 
on the legal profession. It is true that at Oxford, Cambridge 
and other universities law lectures were delivered before the 
establishment of the Litchfield Law School, but merely as a 
part of the polite education of a scholar. There was little 
attempt to teach the eternal principles of the law or their 
practical application. The influence of the Litchfield Law 
School was felt throughout the world, but of course most of all 
in our own country. Here the scholars both attended lectures 
and recited the lessons they had learned. This it was that 
distinguishes it as the first Law School, a school where lessons 
were taught. That Law School, Miss Pierce's School, and the 
Morris Academy did much to educate our people. The late Chief 
Justice Seymour once said that when he entered Congress — as 
late as 1850 — he was met and welcomed by over thirty mem- 
bers of the House, who had graduated at the Litchfield Law 
School or had married women who had graduated at Miss 
Pierce's School. 

The Morris Academy, under the direction of Captain 
James Morris, a soldier who distinguished himself at the cap- 
ture of Cornwallis, also added materially to the education, 
interest and influence of the community. 

Naturally all the ecclesiastical and religious sentiment 
of the community centered around the First Ecclesiastical 
Society, the Congregational Church, but as the inhabitants 
increased other churches were formed. 

Quite early the Episcopalians had the services of a mis- 
sionary here, but in 1745, Mr. John Davies, an Englishman 
who had settled in the town and was deeply attached to the 
principles of the established Church of England, gathered 
around him the people of the neighborhood and organized 
St. Michael's Parish, and donated to it a piece of land on 
which subsequently a church was erected. From that day 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 131 

to this, not only Litchfield, but New Milford has largely bene- 
fitted by his generosity and the interest of his family. 

The late Bishop Davies of the Diocese of Michigan, and his 
son, the Kt. Kev. Thomas F. Davies of the Diocese of Western 
Massachusetts, have always taken a great interest in Litch- 
field and have often visited here reviving their family interest 
in the place of settlement of their ancestors in this country. 

St. Michael's Church has had the good fortune of having 
Hectors distinguished for their piety and ability. Perhaps 
the Rev. Henry E. Hudson, the distinguished Shakespearian 
scholar, was from a literary point of view, the most distin- 
guished. He was Rector of the church for two years and sub- 
sequently became Shakespearian Professor at Harvard Uni- 
versity. 

The Roman Catholic Church, St. Anthony's Parish, was 
started largely through the kindly benevolence and gifts of 
Miss Julia Beers, a daughter of the Hon. Seth P. Beers. Late 
in life she became deeply interested in Roman Catholicism, 
and by her social influence and her many devoted friends in 
the town, she gave the Parish an influence that it has ever 
since retained. 

Our Methodist Brethren ever since 1837 have maintained 
services here, and have always had an influential and devoted 
congregation. 

Upon the settlement of the town, our forefathers seem to 
have pursued a wise and friendly course towards the Indians, 
and on the whole — notwithstanding a few unpleasant instances 
— there were no serious conflicts. 

The community seemed to have had no part in the first 
French and Indian War of 1744, commonly called Queen Anne's 
W;ir. On the dispersion of the inhabitants of Acadia, so 
graphically described by the historian Bancroft and the poet 
Longfellow, some four hundred of these unfortunate refugees 
were sent to Connecticut, and by our Legislature, on January 
21, 1755, distributed among the different towns of the State. 
Of these a number were sent to Litchfield, as appears of record, 
and some became permanent inhabitants of the town. 

In the last French and Indian War, beginning in 1755, 
and continuing until 1763, the town took not only a consider- 
able but a distinguished part. 



132 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

By reason of the death of Colonel Williams at the battle 
of Lake George, the command of his regiment fell on Colonel 
Whiting, then of the Town of New Haven, but subsequently 
removing to this town. He distinguished himself by great 
coolness, skill and bravery. Colonel Whiting's orderly book 
and sword were valued possessions of the Whiting family, 
who, until within a year, have been residents of the town. 
The Litchfield Company, under the command of Captain 
Archibald McNeill of Colonel Whiting's Regiment — although 
not composed exclusively of inhabitants of the town — was 
enlisted in this immediate vicinity, and its roster contains 
the names of distinguished men from this town, members of 
whose families are still living with us — such as the Marshes, 
Baldwins, Smiths, Gibbs, Catlins, Warners, Lords, Stoddards, 
Beebes, Osborns and Bissells — with many others. 

Dr. Timothy Collins who had been the first Pastor of the 
Congregational Church of Litchfield, was appointed as one of 
the physicians and surgeons of this Connecticut Regiment. 

Of the part taken by the town in the Revolutionary War, 
the difficulty is in determining what to omit. Without insti- 
tuting comparison, it can safely be said that Litchfield did — 
as she has always done — her full duty. Circumstances con- 
tributed somewhat to the prominence of the town. The con- 
trol of Long Island Sound and the southern shores of our 
state by the British ships and troops necessarily compelled 
the use of the northern route between New England and the 
western and southern parts of our country. General Wash- 
ington, when desirous of a consultation with Count Rocham- 
beau at Wethersfield, had almost of necessity to pass through 
Litchfield. When a place of safety for provisions, stores and 
prisoners was required, what better situation could be found 
than among our secluded hills? So, when the Royal Governor 
— Franklin of New Jersey — and Matthews, Mayor of New 
York City, were arrested, and Governor Trumbull was 
requested to detain them, he immediately sent them to Major 
Moses Seymour, who was then acting not only as Commis- 
sioner of Supplies but of prisoners as well — to be detained, and 
the original warrant for the detention of Mayor Matthews is 
now in the possession of Judge Woodruff. 

None of the Colonies' soldiers west of the Connecticut 
River was ordered to Boston at the time of the Lexington 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 133 

Alarm. Only those east of the river received orders to march, 
while those on the west side were generally instructed to await 
orders. At the battles of Lexington, Concord and Bunker 
Hill, if any of our townsmen participated, it was as individu- 
als — as they did when Arnold marched to Quebec. But the 
most thrilling event of this time was undertaken by a Litch- 
field man — born in a house still standing if tradition is to be 
believed — Colonel Ethan Allen, who was in command of the 
troops that captured Ticonderoga, and who demanded the sur- 
render of the fortress, — "In the name of the Great Jehovah and 
the Continental Congress", nearly fourteen months before the 
Declaration of Independence. 

Before the War, Connecticut had no cavalry regiment, as 
such. Each regiment of infantry had a troop of horse attached 
to it, consisting of one company. Soon after the beginning 
of the War, these companies were consolidated in a cavalry 
regiment and placed under the command of Colonel Elishb. 
Sheldon — which regiment soon became the pride of the army, 
and was subsequently reorganized as the United States First 
Dragoons. 

The conspicuous part which that regiment played in the 
War is of common knowledge and need not be dwelt upon. 
When Washington needed protection in his retreat from Long 
Island and through the Jerseys, it was this regiment which 
acted as rear guard and protected his retreat through the 
state. Colonel Sheldon was a distinguished and valuable 
citizen of the town, and the house in which he lived is still 
standing on North Street. 

The pulling down of the equestrian statue of George III 
on the Bowling Green in New York and the bringing of it to 
Litchfield to be moulded into bullets by the fair women of 
our town is an incident too well known to require special men- 
tion, but it has always seemed to the writer to have a semi- 
comic as well as a tragic side. A British soldier maimed by 
a bullet moulded by Yankee Rebel women out of a statue 
erected to honor his King must have had mingled feelings; 
his loyalty to the King prohibited his having any ill-feeling 
toward the statue, but his respect for the ladies of Litchfield 
must have been considerably lowered. 

When the importance of defeating General Burgoyne in 
his attempt to separate New England from New York and the 



134 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

western and southern states became apparent, General Schuy- 
ler sent word to General Wolcott to hasten forward to Albany 
as many as possible of the Connecticut troops. General Wol- 
cott with his usual promptness without waiting instructions 
from General Washington or Governor Trumbull, ordered all 
the Connecticut troops west of the Connecticut River to pro- 
ceed immediately to Albany. The Litchfield Troop of Horse, 
under Major Moses Seymour, and the Infantry Company, under 
Captain Beebe, marched immediately, and participated in the 
Battles of Stillwater, Bemis Heights and the final victory at 
Saratoga, which victory Cressey — in his enumeration of the 
famous battles of the world — includes as one of the most 
important. 

There is an interesting and prophetic incident related of 
the banquet to which General Gates invited General Burgoyne 
and his officers, after the surrender, at which General Bur- 
goyne in response to a request for a toast, after some hesita- 
tion, arose and said: "I give you England and America against 
the world". 

At the attacks on Danbury and New Haven, our Litch- 
field soldiers rushed to the assistance of both places. From 
Danbury down to the place of debarkation at Compo Beach, 
they pursued, attacked and harassed Tryon's troops, captur- 
ing and killing many of them. 

Colonel Benjamin Tallmadge, aide de camp to General 
Washington, and one of the most distinguished officers of the 
Kevolution, deserves more attention than we have time to give 
to his many valuable services. His part in the trial and exe- 
cution of Major Andre called the attention of the British, 
French and American commanders to his every action, and 
excited universal approbation. His firmness, benevolent judg- 
ment and kindly care of Andre, and his irresistible outburst 
of tears as that splendid British officer swung into eternity 
from the ignominious gibbet, gave complete evidence of the 
tenderness of his disposition — but which could not swerve his 
fidelity to duty. After the War he made his home in Litchfield, 
and shortly after was elected to Congress where again he 
rendered valuable services to the nation. 

In the War with Mexico, although New England was 
not particularly enthusiastic in its prosecution, Connecticut 
did its part. It was a Litchfield boy, Henry W. Wessells, sub- 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 135 

sequently a General in the Eegular Army, who — while a 
brave Connecticut Colonel was pulling down the Mexican 
flag and raising the Stars and Stripes over the Mexican strong- 
hold, the fortress of Chapultepec — stood beside him and pro- 
tected him from assault. 

In the Civil War, our town did its full duty. The Con- 
necticut Nineteenth Regiment was recruited, encamped and 
trained on Chestnut Hill, and marched away to join the Army 
of the Potomac under command of our townsman, Colonel Lev- 
erett W. Wessells. No finer body of men ever left the State. 
At Manassas, Cold Harbor, Spottsylvania, Winchester, Han- 
over Court House, Cedar Creek, City Point, Hatchet's Run, 
Petersburg and Fisher Hill, it earned a glorious and well- 
deserved reputation for bravery and faithful service. It was 
early transferred into an artillery regiment, the Second Con- 
necticut Heavies, as it was called, and placed under the com- 
mand of Colonel E. S. Kellogg, and subsequently R. S. Mac- 
Kenzie of the Engineers. Under their command the Second 
Connecticut Heavies became one of the most useful and dis- 
tinguished regiments of the Civil War. Colonel Kellogg was 
killed while attacking General Longstreet's veteran corps at 
Cold Harbor. Of our citizens, the names connected with this 
Regiment that come to one's mind most intimately are the 
beloved Clerk of the Superior Court, Dwight C. Kilbourn, 
Hinsdale, Shumway, Bissell, Smith, Stone, Morse, Wadhams, 
Plumb, Wheeler and many more we knew and loved. 

In the Spanish War, when the American Fleet was attack- 
ing Manila and the German ships of Avar seemed to be inten- 
tionally blocking its way, it was our fellow-citizen, Rear 
Admiral Colvocoresses, loved and respected by all of us, who 
ably assisted Admiral Dewey— both equally willing to fight 
Germany if necessary. It would perhaps have been as well 
for the world had our war with Germany begun then and there. 

Though this is a sketch dealing Avith Litchfield's past, I 
would not be true to its traditions if I omitted to mention the 
shining glory of those boys of ours who laid down their lives 
in France for their country, for democracy and the good of man- 
kind in the World War — Morgan, Weir, Devines, Jeffries, 
Cattey, Cornwell, Donohue, Guinchi, Sherry and Zavotti. I 
like to think it was the spirit of Litchfield and their loyalty 



136 Lit CHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

to the best traditions of this town that made them "go over" 

and "carry on" so nobly. 

As brilliant ami effective as were the efforts of our fore- 
fathers on the battlefields of the Republic, the record of their 
civic achievements in no way fades by comparison. 

Connecticut sent our fellow-citizen Oliver Wolcott, to sign 
the Declaration of Independence, and alter his return from 
Congress he was elected Governor of the State and served for 
two years. When Presidents Washington and Adams needed 
a man as Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, to 
assist Alexander Hamilton in straightening out the financial 
affairs of the nation after the Revolution, — they turned to 
Litchfield and selected Oliver Wolcott, Jr., son of the Governor, 
for that important duty, who on his return was elected Gov- 
ernor of the State, a position he occupied some ten years. 
The only other Governor of the State from Litchfield was the 
late Charles B. Andrews, at one time Chief Justice of the 
State. 

Connecticut has chosen five Chief Justices of the State 
from residents of this town, — Andrew Adams, Tapping Reeve, 
Samuel Church, Origen S. Seymour and Charles B. Andrews. 
Eight Justices of our Superior Court have also come from our 
town. Two United States Senators, eleven Members of Con- 
gress, seven Members of the Council, besides numerous Chief 
Justices and Judges of the County Court, with ten High 
Sheriffs of the County. 

When the State of New York desired a man to associate 
with DeWitt Clinton on the construction of the Erie Canal, 
they selected Henry Seymour formerly of Litchfield, then a 
resident of Utica. 

A complete list of the important offices filled by Litchfield 
men would take too long to recite. 

The social life of the town could hardly be otherwise than 
agreeable and attractive. Litchfield has ever welcomed the 
refined educated person, and extended to him or her its warm- 
est welcome. The heads of its families were not only well 
educated men and women, but usually occupied high social 
position in the state and nation. The young people in atten- 
dance at Miss Pierce's, the Law School and the Morris Academy 
were of the same high type collected from all the various States 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 137 

of the Union. There was enough serious work to occupy their 
time and give zest to their hours of rest and recreation. Mrs. 
Vanderpoel in her delightful book, "A Pioneer School" has 
collected many graphic descriptions of the amusements and 
pleasant times that they enjoyed. 

Samuel Goodrich, writing under the name of Peter Par- 
Icy, lias this to say, -Litchfield Hill was in fact not only one 
of the most elevated features in the physical formation of the 
State, but one of the focal points of literature and enlighten- 
ment''. He goes on to tell of an incident in reference to Dr. 
Lyman Beecher, which speaks volumes for the common sense 
of the good old Doctor: One evening Dr. Beecher was returning 
home, having in his hand a volume of Bees' Encyclopedia 
which he had just purchased from the book store. On his way 
he met a skunk and threw the book at him, upon which the 
animal retaliated with such effect that when the Doctor reached 
home he was in a very shocking plight. Sometime after, hav- 
ing been bitterly assailed and abused by an opponent, his 
friends advised him to reply. "No", said the Doctor, "I once 
discharged a quarto at a skunk and I got the worst of it. I 
do not wish to try it again". The witticisms of the town 
were proverbial, and did time permit to repeat, though often 
before repeated, would be enjoyable. To me the reply of Sena- 
tor Tracy to Senator Randolph of Virginia has always seemed 
a nearly perfect specimen of wit. Senator Randolph hastily 
called Senator Tracy to the window of the Senate Chamber to 
see some of his "Connecticut Constituents". Senator Tracy 
came to the window as a drove of mules was being driven by. 
Turning to Senator Randolph he said, "Oh yes, they are going 
down to Virginia to teach school". 

There is also that delightfully witty repartee of the Sena- 
tor which so gallantly described for all time the ladies of 
Litchfield. Mr. Liston, the then British Ambassador, who was 
thoroughly English in his ideas, said to General Tracy, "your 
countrywoman — Mrs. Wolcott — would be admired even at St. 
James". ''Sir", retorted Senator Tracy, "she is admired even 
on Litchfield Hill". 

My friends, I have mentioned only a few of the men whose 
character and attainments have contributed to the upbuilding 
of this town, of our state and of our nation. Not to forget- 



138 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

fulness of their worth but to lack of time must omissions be 
attributed. Many are the names among our forefathers that 
set an example of Godly living, loyalty and patriotism which 
never can be surpassed. May we and our descendants be as 
faithful when called to serve our God, our country and our 
town. 



LITCHFIELD 



AN 

HISTORIC MASQUE 



BY 
DOROTHY BULL 



GIVEN AT THE 

LITCHFIELD GOLF LINKS 
AUGUST 4, 1920 



COMMITTEE ON THE LITCHFIELD MASQUE 

Chairman: Alain C. White 

Secretary: Miss Dorothy Bull 

Assistant Secretary: Miss Ethel M. Smith 

Costumes: F. Kingsbury Bull 

Music: Mrs. George S. McNeill 

Properties and Mechanics: Grosvenor Wainwright 

Seating: George A. Smith 

Printing: S. Carl Fischer 



COMMITTEE OX GENEEAL MANAGEMENT 

Dr. John Buel, Mrs. L. P. Bissell, Miss Helen Cahill, 

Mrs. Richard Chisolm, Mrs. Charles Henry Coit, 

Mrs. Robert Currie, Antonio DaRoss, Miss Adelaide Deming, 

Mrs. John Dove, Miss Nellie Doyle, S. Carl Fischer, 

Mrs. Chauncey B. Heath, Mrs. George S. McNeill, 

William T. Marsh, Miss Josephine Mitchell, Miss Julia Morse, 

John Mower, Mrs. C. I. Page, Jr., Mrs. Harold C. Richardson, 

Miss Margaret Sanford, Mrs. Frederick A. Stoddard, 

Miss Cornelia B. Smith, Albert M. Turner, 

Mrs. Floyd A. Yanderpoel. 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 141 

I. 
PROLOGUE 
Interpreter, Miss Carolyn Cowles 

Good friends, we bid yon welcome, who are met 

With us to keep this festival of years; 
For it is fitting we should not forget 

In these swift-moving days, the hopes and fears 
That through the ages shaped the life we know. 
Comfort and ease are here. It was not always so; 

But fortitude and labor nobly spent 

Have built for as the place of our content. 

And you, who walk in these familiar ways, 
Unmindful of those other days 

Forgetful of the men you never knew 

Their silent friendly ghosts companion you, 
For they have cleared the fields that take your ploughs 
And to your pastures, once, they drove their cows, 

The trees that shade your streets they planted therCj 

Their customs and their faith you share. 

And it is meet that we should own 
Our debt to them, our friends unknown, 

In honorable remembrance keep 

The record of the years that sleep, 
As here in mimic action we 
Shall bring them back to memory; 

The Indian and the Pioneer, 

Who struggled for existence here; 
The housewife skilled, whose busy hands 
Fulfilled her thriving brood's demands; 

Those folk of sturdy strength and will, 

Who set their city on a hill. 

Where courage is, there dwells Romance; 
And this is our inheritance. 

1. Before the Settlement — The Indians 

The scene represents a variety of incidents in a 
hunting party, which is suddenly interrupted by 



142 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

the arrival of a runner with news of the approach 
of a Mohawk war party. 

Presented by the Waterbury Council, Boy Scouts of America 
from Camp Sepunkum, Mt. Tom, under the direction of 
C. F. Northrup. 

2. John Marsh Views the New Plantation 

The towns of Hartford and Windsor, having 
acquired an interest in the Western Lands, send 
John Marsh, the first white man to explore the 
region, into the Wilderness in May 1715. 

Presented by William T. Marsh 

3. The Purchase of Litchfield Township 

The scene depicts the signing of the deed granted 
by the Pootatuck Indians to the Committees from 
the Towns of Hartford and Windsor, on March 2, 
1716, at Woodbury. The deed was signed by eleven 
Indians, witnessed by three Indians and two Wood- 
bury men. A memorandum was inserted before the 
execution of the deed, reserving to the grantors "a 
piece of ground sufficient for their hunting houses, 
near a mountain called Mt. Tom.'' 

ACTION 

The interpreter, John Minor, will call each gran- 
tor by name, and five will sign. 

The sixth grantor, Sepunkum, wilL demur, and 
in dumb show, demand the hunting rights; the 
memorandum will be added and the signing com- 
pleted. 

The first witness is Weraumaug, Sachem of the 
Wyantenucks, and the greatest chieftain present; 
the Indians will stand while he signs. 

Presented by the Northfield Grange and the Waterbury Coun- 
cil, Boy Scouts of America, whose summer camp "Sepun- 
kuni" was established on the Mt. Tom State Park in 1916, 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 143 

just two hundred years after the reservation was made 
by their Indian predecessors. 

Arranged by Albert M. Turner and C. F. Northrup 

4. Holding the Frontier— Building the Center Fort, 1723 

Presented by John Buel, W. T. Marsh and men of 
Litchfield and Northfield 

5. The Age of Homespun— 1760 

Presented by the Litchfield Grange 
Arranged by Mrs. Frederick A. Stoddard 



II. 
THE KEVOLUTION 

Security is hardly won; 
Mind strikes on mind and kindles fire; 

The work of Man is never done; 
He still must strive for his desire. 

A dream of Power across the sea 
Threatens the dream of Liberty; 

And brothers against brothers make 

A bitter war for freedom's sake. 

6. Ploughshares into Swords. 

Enlisting a Company for the Defence of New 
York, June 1776. 

Presented by Commander Landon and the Robert Jeffries Post 
of the American Legion 

Interlude: Yankee Doodle. (Band and Audience) 

7. George III Comes to Litchfield 

In 1776, the leaden statue of George III has 
been taken from Bowling Green and transported 
by ox-cart to Litchfield to be melted into bullets. 



144 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

The ox-cart is accompanied by the Hon. Oliver Wol- 
cott, Governor of. Connecticut. On its arrival at 
the Wolcott orchard, it is received with enthusiasm 
by the household and (lie ladies of the town, some 
of whom were ancestors of persons depicting the 
scene. 

Presented by the Mary Floyd Tallmadge Chapter, D. A. R. 

Arranged by Mrs. L. P. Bissell and Mrs. Charles I. Page, Jr. 

8. Lafayette's Ball, 1824 

Given in Phelps' Tavern on the occasion of the 
visit of the Marquis of Lafayette to Litchfield dur- 
ing his second stay in America. 

Presented by the Children of Bantam School 

Arranged by Miss Josephine Mitchell and Mrs. Geo. Trumbull 
(Music: Schubert's Marche Militaire) 

III. 

THE CIVIL WAR 

Once more the pride of power strikes to flame 

Men's slumbering minds. Freemen have thought no shame 

To set the brand of slave on other men. 
To weld those bonds they think no shame to break 
The holier bond of brotherhood to take 

The sword again. 
For age-old sin the children pay the price 
The pitiful and cleansing sacrifice. 

Interlude: Tenting Tonight. (Band and Audience) 

9. Bivouac Before Cold Harbor — (The Second Connecticut 

Heavy Artillery) 

After ten days of forced marches, the untried 
Litchfield County regiment arrives near Cold Har- 
bor, Va., on June 1, 1802. The exhausted men fall 
asleep in groups, only to be awakened by the order 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 145 

for the charge which is to convert the regiment into 
veterans in a day. 

Presented by the Morgan-Weir Post of the American Legion 

Arranged by Sutherland Beckwith 

Interlude: Battle Hymn of the Kepublic. (Band and Audience) 

10. Home Service— 1863 

Presented by the Ladies of Milton 
Arranged by Miss Nellie M. Doyle 
Interlude: The Old Oaken Bucket. (Band and Audience) 

11. The Hay Field— 1870 

Presented by the People of Bantam 
Arranged by Mrs. Kobert Currie 

12. The New Leaven — Columbia Welcomes the Foreign 

Born 

About 1890 the tide of foreign immigration 
reaches Litchfield, bringing the children of distant 
lands to share our heritage. 

Columbia — Mrs. Floyd L. Vanderpoel 

Arranged by Antonio DaKoss and the Italian Mutual Benefit 
Society 

(Music: Columbia, The Gem of the Ocean) 

IV. 
THE EUROPEAN WAR 

Strange are men's ways. 

So bound are we, 
Each to the other; 

Yet each a stranger goes, 
Strange to his brother. 

Strong is the love of power, 
Yet in some burning mind 



146 LITCHFIELD BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

Springs up the lovelier flower, 
Love of mankind. 

In a far distant land 

The Powers of Darkness grew, i 
Rose, and with bloody hand 

Smote at the good and true. 

All that was brave in men 
Answered the challenge then, 
Sadly and wild again 
The trumpets blew. 

And to our brothers bound, 

For good or ill, 
Three thousand miles we heard the trumpets sound 

On Litchfield Hill. 

And young men took their arms again 

To keep the faith; 
And lifted to their lips the cup of pain, 

And walked the roads of Death. 

And they are safe, who walked the westward road 

With burning hearts and will. 
The dreams they dreamed for this the land they loved, 

Ours to fulfill. 

Interlude: "Keep the Home Fires Burning. (Band and 
audience) 

13. Home Service: 1914-1920 

Presented by the Litchfield Chapter, American Bed Cross 

Arranged by Miss Cornelia B. Smith 

Interlude: "Over There", "It's A Long, Long Trail"; 
(Band and Audience) 

14. Over the Top, 1918 

A scene from the World War depicting going 
over the top, destroying a machine gun nest and 
charging the enemy's trenches. Two scouts come 



LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 147 

out, reconnoiter, point, and the rest of the assault- 
ing party appear. Bombers and riflemen destroy 
the machine gun nest. A gas alarm is given. Men 
advance and charge the enemy's trenches. 
Presented by the Morgan- Weir Post, American Legion 
Arranged by Sutherland Beckwith 

15. The Hope of the Future 

Presented by the Children of the Litchfield Schools. 

Arranged by Miss Dorothy Allen and the Litchfield High 

School Alumni Association 
Music: America. (Band, Children and Audience) 




Oliver Wolcott 



w 



n 





Columbia Welcomes the Foreign Born 



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